June 12, 2007 The meeting of the Supervisors of Franklin Township, held in the Township office, was called to order by Chairman John Sachar at 1900 hours with the Pledge of Allegiance. Present were Sachar, Gary Truitt, David Henderson and reporter Courtney Soder. HEARING: CONDITIONAL USE FOR SIDE YARD RELIEF, JOE AND ALICE SZYMANOWICZ FOR PROPERTY AT 8244 CRANE ROAD Sachar asked if anyone present had any comments. Truitt stated that he had no problem with granting the request. Mr. Szymanowicz wants to build a two-car garage onto the existing house. The east side yard would be 25 ft. after the construction instead of the required 30 ft. Mr. Szymanowicz also owns the adjacent property. Hearing closed at 1903 hours. VISITORS/PUBLIC COMMENT No visitors present. MINUTES Henderson moved to approve the minutes of 5/30/07 as presented. Sachar seconded. Carried. REPORTS Roadmaster – Dave reported that cross pipe replacements are done for the year. The replacement on the paved section of Silverthorn will set for a year before the cut is resurfaced giving it time to settle. Discussion on who is responsible for drainage in the vicinity of State owned roads. Henderson – PennDOT has abdicated their responsibility. It’s a power grab exactly like they did with stop signs and traffic lights. Townships are now responsible for signs and drainage and there has not been any increase in liquid fuels reimbursement. We will have extra expenses with equipment repairs that have not been budgeted so we will need to look at our figures and adjust accordingly. Agility – Dave reported that a work plan has been created and we are waiting for PennDOT to return it. Larry is currently mowing State roads and they will seal coat for us this year. Francis Road Pipe, Fire Pond Grants – nothing. Gravel – will be done in August. Merritt Overweight Permit – notice was posted on the equipment. Dirt and Gravel Roads Projects – we will send a letter to Soil Conservation requesting half of our reimbursement. Traffic Count on Fry and West Stancliff/652 Fry North; 420 Fry South; 233 W. Stancliff – Dave reported that everyone involved with analyzing the counts feel that the company mislabeled the files. Henderson – that is too much traffic for a gravel road. As soon as traffic gets to 200 cars a day, it’s much more expensive to maintain gravel than asphalt. We’re making a case to get some help with that road. Rep. Hornaman Grant – we received preliminary approval of the grant. One-Ton Repairs – the transmission fell apart last week. The housing broke and was repaired in-house. The cost for parts was not much but it required 3 days of labor costs. A spreadsheet comparing the costs and use of the 1-ton, #5 and #6 was reviewed. It shows that the 1-ton is a valuable piece of equipment that is used frequently. Bond for Driveway Permits – Dave reported that he created an instruction handout on how to install a driveway pipe for those who want to install their own. They invariably do it wrong. There is no way to force the job to be done adequately. If they post a bond, we can repair the work if needed by using the bond. The bond would be in the same amount that the Township charges to install a pipe. Sachar – do we need an ordinance or can we put it in our fee schedule? What is the major failure in installation? We could just require that the Township puts in all pipes. Or they could just dig the ditch, lay in the pipe and then have you inspect it before it is covered. Henderson – we can ask our Attorney about an ordinance. The failure is usually in the depth or approach angle. They will want me to instantly be available to check it and I may not be available. Truitt – find out what Washington Township does with this issue. If you are building a house, it needs to be inspected. The pipe needs to be inspected before it is covered. FINANCIAL AND TAXES Bills – discussion on various bills. Henderson moved to pay the bills as listed totaling $28,998.17 general fund; $3,299.66 state fund; $983.63 equipment fund; $240.34 fire dept. fund and $2,517.63 permanent improvement fund. Truitt seconded. Carried. Payroll – Truitt moved to approve payroll #11-07 and #12-07 as presented. Sachar seconded. Carried. Procurement Cards – the first purchase worked well. We will try again soon. Warrant Tax Collector – Henderson moved to warrant the tax collector for $346.48. Sachar seconded. Carried. PLANNING, ZONING, RECREATION, SAFETY, SANITATION/RECYCLING, HEALTH AND THE COMMON GOOD Planning Commission Minutes – reviewed. The Salhoff Sewage Module was reviewed and accepted. Joint Comprehensive Plan, Industrial Park/KOZ, Stormwater Management, Storage Trailers, History Grant, Ordinance Compliance, Shooting Range, Edinboro Lake Watershed, Dry Hydrant, Tavern Parking Lot Access – nothing. Soil Conservation District Letter – Dave reported that we missed attending the training. There is lots of confusion on this issue. Gene Clement of SCD says it is up to the person subdividing to notify the Township if they will impact .25 acres of wetlands. Henderson – we will end up being the heavy no matter what. Clement says we should be looking to the Northwest Commission for guidance. Truitt – should we send everyone to SCD and let them decide about wetlands? Henderson – we can’t make that determination. We need to have someone else make the guidelines and give us guidance. Discussion. Recycling/Senior Pick Up – to pick up material for seniors in advance of the Recycle Day, we would need to have a roll-off here or it would be double-handled. Dave said there would need to be consistency; if we do it this year we would need to do it every year. Discussion on next week’s recycle meeting at Platea. The Township needs to send a letter of participation and proof of insurance coverage to 2 million dollars aggregate. Discussion was held on insurance needs. Other municipalities involved have provided door prizes solicited from their businesses. Volunteers will be needed during the event. Each municipality has a different colored flyer that will be mailed to their residents. This flyer must be brought to the event so a count can be made of the number of participants from each municipality. Elizabeth Davis Child Care Facility – Mrs. Davis says she is currently working on obtaining any State permits that are required. Cable TV Franchise – no word from Attorney Eiben or Chris Lovell of Coaxial Cable TV. A letter will be sent requesting a copy of their service area map. Joint Recreation – a meeting was held of the joint recreation committee that includes Franklin Township, Washington Township and Edinboro Borough. The Borough took title to the super fund site on Rt. 6N. This area must be kept as a recreational area. Upkeep of the site will be the big cost. The group is taking ideas on what to do with the site. Szymanowicz Conditional Use Request for Side Yard Relief – Truitt moved to grant the conditional use request. Henderson seconded. Carried. SOLICITOR Vittorio, Nuisance Rewrite, Brown/Carver Property, Chivari Zoning Violation, UCC Ruling – nothing new to report. OLD BUSINESS Internet Broadband, Verizon FIOS, Elk Creek Boundary Road Agreement – nothing new to report. NEW BUSINESS No new business. CORRESPONDENCE Discussion on various correspondences and training sessions. NIMS Training – discussion on who can go to the training as the date conflicts with the ECATO meeting. ADJOURN Sachar called the meeting adjourned at 2017 hours. Bonnie J. Bernhardt, Secretary