John Mack - Newtown Supervisor
Summary of the 23 April 2025 BOS Meeting

This is my personal summary of the April 23, 2025, meeting of the #NewtownPA Township Board of Supervisors (BOS). This is not a complete nor an official summary.

Consent Agenda

  • Consider approval of minutes of April 9, 2025 meeting
  • Consider payment of the April 23, 2025 bills list in the amount of $238,157.51 and transfers in the amount of $225. See 2025 BOS Chronicle for details.
  • Authorization to purchase 2 Police vehicles and upfitting in the amount of $197,762.21
  • BOS approved the Consent Agenda 4-1 with Supervisor Calabro voting nay.

Engineer’s Report

Solicitor’s Report

  • Consider recommendation by the Bucks County Planning Commission (BCPC) to the Jointure for revisions to the Joint Municipal Zoning Ordinance. Over the past few months, the Joint Zoning Council has discussed updating the Newtown Area Joint Zoning Ordinance, or portions thereof. The Council decided that amendments to select articles of the ordinance may make the most sense at this time. Adding graphics into ordinance sections dealing with definitions and signs has been discussed as a desired minimum update; Council has also expressed a need to update the sign regulations, and possibly the definitions.

    The BOS approved Option 3 (update Article II Definitions – Graphics and Update Definitions; Article XI Signs – Graphics and Update Regulations)     in a 4-1 vote (Supervisor Calabro voting nay), with Newtown Township share of the cost (47%) being $3,570.
  • Consider authorizing, drafting, and advertisement of ordinance and drafting a resolution establishing a real estate tax credit and earned income tax credit program for qualifying volunteer firefighters. The BOS unanimously approved this action.
  • Consider authorizing execution of easements and design, engineering contract for pedestrian, trail, and Newtown Creek bridge project.

Note from Manager’s Report: “The Newtown Creek Coalition has reviewed (and included a summary of results) the proposals received in response to the RFP for the engineering contract for the pedestrian bridge design. Their
recommendation is that the award go to Howell Engineering, based on scope, responsiveness to the RFP, and price. An item will be included on the Agenda to award the contract, and approve all easements/documents associated with the design of the bridge. Supporting information including the analysis from the Newtown Creek Coalition will be included in the packet for reference.”

The Newtown Creek Coalition recommends awarding a contract for professional services to HOWELL in the amount of $114,750.00.

See below for details...

Other Agenda Items and Details

Reports of Board Members

MACK: Make America’s Constitution King!

I decided to order this booklet from Amazon for $1.50 (with FREE postage), which contains the Constitution of the United States - with Index - and the Declaration of Independence. Published by the National Center for Constitutional Studies, a nonprofit educational foundation dedicated to restoring Constitutional principles in the tradition of America's Founding Fathers.

The Constitution was proofed word for word against the original Constitution housed in the Archives in Washington, D.C. I hope it is still there because – as the quote from George Washington on the cover says – “…its only keepers, [are] the people.”

I think we should all have a copy and read it because it is a basis for the freedoms we enjoy right here at Board of Supervisors meetings – the freedom to get up there at the podium and make public comments and to submit Right to Know requests for documents that otherwise would be unavailable to the public. These rights should be cherished and I thank the Board and residents for allowing me to express my opinion.

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Engineer's Report

Award 2025 Road Program

The BOS unanimously approved acceptance of the Morrissey bid of  $842,132.85, which includes the Base Bid (Poppy Court & Snowdrop Place, entire length, Wexley Drive, entire length, Cliveden Drive, from 15 Cliveden Dr. to 105 Cliveden Dr, Meridian Circle, entire length, High Street, entire length, and Willow Court, entire length) plus Alternate Bid No. 1 (North Drive, entire length), Alternate Bid No. 11 (Bucks Meadows Lane, entire length), and Alternate Bid No. 30 (South State Street, from Newtown Bypass to House #668), in the total amount of $842,132.85 contingent upon funds being available* and upon receiving authorization to award from all funding agencies. This totals 2.51 miles of township roadways. Per mile of road cost: $842,132.85/2.51 = $335,511.
 
*TOTAL Budget 2025 Road Program: $845,000.

Roads require repaving approximately every 20 years. Thus, Newtown must repave about 4 miles of its approximately 80 miles of roads each year just to maintain current conditions. For the period of 2019 through 2025, on average, only 2.9 miles of roads have been repaved per year!

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Solicitor's Report

Award Newtown Creek Bridge Engineering Contract

Howell Concept for the Bridge

Realizing that the design process has not yet started, I must say the that HOWELL concept (see figure above) lacks the idyllic “bucolic ambience” we have come to expect in Newtown Borough and in the Township. The location is unique by virtue of its history as part of the route of the Bucks County Interurban Railway, which operated a trolley line between Bristol and Doylestown until it was terminated in 1923. JUST SAYIN’

In 2019, when Mike Sellers, a member of the Newtown Creek Coalition, first presented this project to the BOS, he noted that PennDOT has a warehouse full of old disassembled bridges that can be purchased for as little as $1. At the meeting Mr. Sellers said there were no suitable bridges available.

The BOS unanimously approved this action.

Related Content:

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Official Video

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