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13 July 2022 BOS Meeting Summary
Tax Increase Referendum Approved for NAS, Further Delays for LDR Trail! CRSD Raises Tax, 5G Ordinance Moves Forward, More… See pages 60-67 of the 2022 BOS Chronicle for my complete detailed notes from the meeting.
This is my personal summary of the July 13, 2022, meeting of Newtown Township Board of Supervisors (BOS). This is not a complete nor an official summary.
Access the 2022 BOS Voting Record (UNOFFICIAL).
Agenda Items
- Special Actions
- Reports of Board Members
- Reports of Officials
- June 2022 Police Report
- New Business
- Official Video
- Detailed Notes
Request by Newtown Ambulance Squad to Raise EMS Tax
Newtown Ambulance Squad (NAS) Chief Evan Resnikoff requested that the BOS authorize the Solicitor to place a referendum on the November ballot to include increased millage allowance in excess of the 0.5 Mill cap permitted by the Second Class Township Code for the ambulance squad. Mr. Resnikoff supplied some financial information and estimated that a 0.5 Mill increase - bringing the total to 1.0 Mill - will cost the average Newtown homeowner $1.81 per month ($21.80 per year).
The BOS unanimously approved the authorization for the Solicitor to proceed with placing this referendum on the November ballot.
How will you vote on this referendum? YES or NO?
Joint Zoning Council Meeting, July 7, 2022
Supervisor Mack summarized the discussions/decisions made at the July 7, 2022, Joint Zoning Council (JZC) meeting. LINK to online version with details: https://johnmacknewtown.info/7jul22jzc.html
Lower Dolington Road Multi-Use Trail Update
Lower Dolington Rd Trail: "A Lot of Feet Need to Be Held to the Fire!"
When the topic of accountability came up, Mr. Mack said "Six feet needed to be held to the fire. The construction company, Lumens (company responsible for moving the underground cable), and Newtown Artesian Water Company," which provided incorrect information that adversely impacted the project.
N. Sycamore Street Pedestrian Safety
Q: What’s the timeline for getting back to the BOS with proposals for the additional safety improvements suggested at the January 12, 2022, BOS meeting? [See page 4 of the 2022 Newtown Township BOS Chronicle. LINK: https://bit.ly/2022BOSchronicle]…
A (via email): “RVE has recently spoken to Michael Smith of PennDOT regarding the proposed speed limit change. We had previously collected speed data in late April and evaluated the data in order to provide PennDOT with an analysis. This was submitted in a draft form to PennDOT for discussion purposes. Michael indicated that they are currently reviewing the data and he will be reaching back out to RVE with their team for further discussion on the path forward.”
Brixmor Traffic Study
Q: Can you review what Brixmor was asked to do as a follow up? Has this been done? If not, why not? Is there a timeline for completion to our satisfaction?
A (via email): “We have reached out to the applicant regarding the status of their resubmission of the traffic study, however, they have not yet provided their anticipated resubmission date. We provided our comments to the Developer on January 25 which required additional evaluation of mitigation improvements.” – NOT REALLY A SUFFICIENT ANSWER.
Resolution to Adopt Fire Services Agreement
At the July 11, 2022, MMM meeting [LINK: https://www.johnmacknewtown.info/mmm11jul22.html], I briefly summarized the FINAL Agreement [LINK: https://bit.ly/Final_FireSvcs_Agreement] between the Township and Borough regarding paid fire services provided by the Newtown Township Emergency Services (EMS) Department. The agreement states: “In exchange for the Township providing the Services to the Borough, the Borough shall pay the Township compensation. The Compensation for calendar year 2022 shall be One Hundred Fifty-Four Thousand, Three Hundred Sixty-Five Dollars ($154,365.00), $147,155 of which is base Compensation and $7,210 of which is related to capital expense of purchasing a command vehicle. This will be paid monthly retroactive to January 2022. The agreement is for 3 years and “shall increase by a factor of five percent (5%)” each year after the first.
The resolution passed by a 4-0 vote.
A/V System Upgrade2
According to the July 8, 2022, Manager’s Report: “We have met with several vendors (AVT, Cenero, and Visual Sound) related to the video system upgrade project. We are expecting proposals from all three vendors. Once we have the proposals we will compile the information together for the Board’s review.”
The Township Manager distributed 3 proposals to Supervisors on July 14, 2022. All three proposals include prevailing wage labor rates and are CoStar qualified vendors.
- Visual Sound proposal (63,016.50) - LINK: https://bit.ly/AVupdateVSproposal
- Applied Video Technology proposal ($133,370) - LINK: https://bit.ly/AVupdateAVTproposal
- Cenero proposal ($138,596 + $8,361) - LINK: https://bit.ly/AVupdateCeneroProposal
Snyder Proposes Pro Abortion Resolution
The Newtown BOS agreed unanimously at its July 13, 2022, public meeting to vote on a resolution calling on the state legislature to retain abortion rights in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Supervisor Elen Snyder put forth this item for consideration. The four supervisors in attendance at the meeting – Snyder, John Mack, Dennis Fisher, Phil Calabro – agreed to the addition of the resolution to the next meeting's agenda. The board's only Republican, Kyle Davis, was absent from the meeting.
Official Video
Also, view the official video of the meeting on Youtube for more details (includes an interactive transcript that allows you to jump to specific sections of the video related to entries in the transcript).
Meeting Notes
See pages 60-67 of the 2022 BOS Chronicle for my complete detailed notes from the meeting. The Meeting Notes (PDF) are also embedded below.
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