1 1 ASTON TOWNSHIP BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 2 February 17, 2021 3 4 5 6 Transcript of the ASTON TOWNSHIP BOARD OF 7 COMMISSIONERS MEETING, taken before Lorraine Evans, 8 Court Reporter-Notary Public, held at the Township 9 Building, 5021 Pennell Road, Aston, PA 19014, on 10 Wednesday, February 17, 2021, commencing approximately 11 at 7:00 p.m. 12 13 BOARD MEMBERS 14 JAMES M. STIGALE, PRESIDENT MICHAEL J. HIGGINS, VICE-PRESIDENT 15 JOHN DOUGHERTY FREDERICK PRENDERGAST 16 LESTER F. BERRY, JR. NANCY E. BOWDEN 17 JOSEPH McGINN, JR. 18 19 JOSEPH DeVUONO, Township Manager ELIZABETH NAUGHTON-BECK, ESQUIRE, Solicitor 20 JOSEPH VISCUSO, Engineer 21 22 LORRAINE EVANS COURT REPORTER-NOTARY PUBLIC 23 530 Paxon Hollow Road Broomall, Pennsylvania 19008 24 (610)203-7715 lorraine7evans@gmail.com 2 1 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Good evening 2 everybody. I would like to call this Aston 3 Township Board of Commissioners meeting for 4 Wednesday, February 17, 2021 to order. Please 5 rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. 6 (Pledge of Allegiance) 7 PRESIDENT STIGALE: We are trying to stay 8 with Covid conditions so we are asking all the 9 Commissioners and all the professionals to keep 10 your mask on until you're able to speak and 11 then you can remove your mask and then replace 12 it once you're finished. 13 At this time I need a motion to approve 14 the minutes of the regular meeting of January 15 20, 2021. 16 COMMISSIONER PRENDERGAST: Make a motion. 17 COMMISSIONER BOWDEN: Second. 18 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Questions or comments? 19 All in favor? Opposed? The "ayes" have it. 20 (Whereupon, all Commissioners 21 present vote "aye.") 22 PRESIDENT STIGALE: At this time I would 23 like to call on Commissioner Prendergast, 24 please. LORRAINE EVANS 3 1 COMMISSIONER PRENDERGAST: Proclamation, 2 Aston Township, Pennsylvania, Delaware County. 3 Whereas, the Board of Commissioners, 4 Township of Aston, Delaware County, 5 Pennsylvania would like to recognize and thank 6 Lorraine Evans our Township Court Reporter for 7 over 20 years dedicated service. 8 Whereas, Lorraine has attended Board of 9 Commissioners evening monthly meetings, special 10 meetings, day and evening hearings and was the 11 Court Reporter for the Zoning Hearing Board for 12 over 20 years. 13 Whereas, Lorraine has been aware these 14 many years of our Aston Township's activities, 15 projects, happy celebrations, concerns of the 16 township residents, changes, growth, along with 17 some sad times. 18 Whereas, Lorraine knows all about Aston 19 Township and we know a little about her. 20 Lorraine has been married to her husband Pastor 21 Jeff Evans for over 31 years. Jeff is a 22 Baptist minister at New Hope Christian Church 23 in Broomall. Lorraine has a great family with 24 three daughters and two sons who keep her very LORRAINE EVANS 4 1 busy. Lorraine, your second home will always 2 be Aston Township. 3 Now, therefore be it proclaimed that the 4 Aston Township Board of Commissioners along 5 with the residents and employees of Aston 6 Township would like to congratulate and extend 7 good luck wishes for a well deserved retirement 8 to Lorraine Evans. 9 Duly proclaimed this 17th day of February, 10 2021. Aston Township Board of Commissioners, 11 James Stigale, Michael Higgins, John Dougherty, 12 Joe McGinn, Lester Berry, Fred Prendergast, 13 Nancy Bowden, and Joseph DeVuono. 14 Congratulations. 15 (Applause) 16 PRESIDENT STIGALE: I would like to move 17 on to Committee reports. Call on Commissioner 18 Berry, please. 19 COMMISSIONER PRENDERGAST: Thank you, 20 President Stigale. 21 COMMISSIONER BERRY: Thank you. This is a 22 police report. Incidents handled 514, accident 23 investigations 23, criminal investigations 24, 24 criminal cases cleared four. Clearance Rate LORRAINE EVANS 5 1 Part I Crimes, point two percent, Clearance 2 Rate Part II Crimes point eleven percent. 3 That's it. 4 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Thank you. I would 5 like to call on Commissioner Prendergast, 6 please. 7 COMMISSIONER PRENDERGAST: This is the 8 Public Works Road Foreman Activity Report. 9 Repaired and serviced small engine tool and 10 equipment, emptied 30 yard containers using 11 roll-off truck, provided curb-side branch 12 pick-up for all township residents, serviced 13 and inspected, where applicable, all Public 14 Works trucks, reviewed and marked, if needed, 15 all 811 call sheets, filled 74 potholes using 16 1.5 tons of cold patch asphalt, curbside 17 Christmas Tree pickup throughout township, 18 delivered 2021 Aston Township calendars to 19 township residents, took down all holiday 20 decorations at Community Center and Five 21 Points, repaired Inlet on Ford and Aston Mills 22 Road, removed dumpster area, block walls and 23 cement floor, at Community Center, installed 24 new carbon dioxide detectors at Municipal LORRAINE EVANS 6 1 Building, and I would like to add they did a 2 fantastic job with the snow removal. Thank 3 you. 4 PRESIDENT STIGALE: That put a lot of 5 pressure on them for tonight. Call on 6 Commissioner Higgins. 7 COMMISSIONER HIGGINS: Thank you. This is 8 the Building and Codes Report for February 8, 9 2021. Following is a report for the Permits 10 and Licenses issued for the month of January, 11 2021. Beginning balance zero. Total income 12 from building permits and general contractor 13 licenses, $511,209.00. Majority of that is 14 from the Springbrooke Trade Center for the 15 permits to start the job down there. So that's 16 the majority of that. 17 And then total electrical permits and 18 licenses, $1,525.00, total plumbing and heating 19 permits, $3,851.00. There's no income from 20 Health Licenses, Peddlers and Vendors permits, 21 or Commercial Maintenance Inspections. Income 22 from Certificates of Occupancy, $2,950.00, 23 income from Rental Licenses, $300.00. 24 Total collected for the month, LORRAINE EVANS 7 1 $519,835.00. Compared to January a year ago of 2 $24,690.00. Again, the bump in that is from 3 the permits for the Springbrooke Trade Center 4 down behind the tree line where Applebee's is. 5 That's all I have. Thank you. 6 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Thank you. I would 7 like to call on Commissioner Bowden. 8 COMMISSIONER BOWDEN: Fire report for 9 January. Fire calls 50, year to date 50, EMS 10 calls 160, year to date 160, total calls 210, 11 year to date 210, monthly drills three, year to 12 date, three. 13 I also have a report from the library. 14 Our Aston Township Library, during this 15 pandemic, is operating remotely. You may 16 request a book by contacting the library at 17 610-494-5877. Contact free pick up is 18 available. The hours for contact free pick up 19 are Monday, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m, Tuesdays 20 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m, Wednesdays, 2:00 p.m. to 21 8:00 p.m., Thursdays 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 22 and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Fridays 11:00 a.m. 23 to 4:00 p.m., Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. 24 When picking up is available you call the LORRAINE EVANS 8 1 library, again 610-494-5877, press the option 2 zero from the parking lot, and they'll arrange 3 contact free pick up for you. That's all I 4 have. 5 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Thank you. 6 Commissioner Dougherty. 7 COMMISSIONER DOUGHERTY: I have the Aston 8 Township Treasurer's report for January, 2021. 9 Total cash in the general fund as of January 10 31st, 2021, $1,366,961.77. Other funds include 11 the TD Bank Bond Fund checking account, balance 12 of $7,951,064.67, TD Bank Escrow checking 13 account, balance $267,762.40, TD Bank Capital 14 checking account with a balance of $723,702.91. 15 Total cash balance for the Township as of 16 January 31st, 2021 was $10,519,946.76. That 17 concludes my reports. 18 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Thank you. At this 19 time I want to make a mention that with the 20 passing of Commissioner Graham, the Board of 21 Commissioners had 30 days to fulfill her 22 replacement. We did interviews, we had a 23 special meeting to swear in the new Second Ward 24 Commissioner. But officially I want to welcome LORRAINE EVANS 9 1 him to the official meeting with residents, and 2 the new Second Ward Commissioner is Joseph 3 McGinn, Jr. Welcome aboard. At this time I'll 4 ask if you have any committee reports. 5 COMMISSIONER McGINN: Thanks, Jim. From 6 the Committee standpoint, nothing at this time. 7 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Thank you very much. 8 I'd like to move onto approval of the 9 treasurer's report. 10 COMMISSIONER BOWDEN: So move. 11 COMMISSIONER PRENDERGAST: Second. 12 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Questions or comments? 13 All in favor? Opposed? The "ayes" have it. 14 (Whereupon, all Commissioners 15 present vote "aye.") 16 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Need a motion to 17 approve the bills and payroll. 18 COMMISSIONER BOWDEN: So move. 19 COMMISSIONER BERRY: Second. 20 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Questions or comments? 21 All in favor? Opposed? The "ayes" have it. 22 (Whereupon, all Commissioners 23 present vote "aye.") 24 PRESIDENT STIGALE: At this time I would LORRAINE EVANS 10 1 like to open up the floor to the public, or on 2 the telephone if you're watching from home. It 3 should be somewhat visible with the phone 4 number for you to call in. You'll be connected 5 to our township manager. This is agenda items 6 only. Agenda items only. Seeing none, I'd 7 like to move onto New Business. 8 Line item A, we are going to do a special 9 presentation. I would like to call on 10 Commissioner Higgins, please. 11 COMMISSIONER HIGGINS: Thank you. I make 12 a motion to place the meeting in sine die. 13 COMMISSIONER BERRY: Second. 14 PRESIDENT STIGALE: All in favor? 15 Opposed? The "ayes" have it. 16 (Whereupon, all Commissioners 17 present vote "aye.") 18 PRESIDENT STIGALE: And we would like to 19 turn this portion over to Mr. Viscuso, township 20 engineer. 21 MR. VISCUSO: Thank you, Mr. President. 22 And tonight we have advertised to take any 23 public comment on our pollutant reduction plan. 24 There's a copy upstairs. I have to ask if LORRAINE EVANS 11 1 there's anyone in the audience that might have 2 any public comments you want to put forth at 3 this time about the plan. Seeing none. I have 4 to read this statement into the minutes. 5 The current MS4 permit became effective on 6 March 16, 2018. A Pollution Reduction Plan, 7 PRP, was required to be included in the permit 8 renewal package. The PRP includes a strategy 9 to reduce sediment in the Township's streams by 10 ten percent through implementation of 11 stormwater BMP's. 12 Six Minimum Control Measures are required 13 to be met to maintain compliance with the MS4 14 permit. Public education and outreach, public 15 involvement and participation, illicit 16 discharge detection and elimination, 17 construction site run-off control, post 18 construction run-off control, and pollution 19 prevention municipal good housekeeping. 20 Stormwater information is available on the 21 township's website. All stormwater outfalls in 22 the township are required to be screened for 23 illicit discharges one time before the permit 24 expires on March 16, 2023. LORRAINE EVANS 12 1 There is one upcoming event that residents 2 should be aware of, and that's a CRC stream 3 clean up, that will be held on Saturday, March 4 20, 2021. Thank you. 5 PRESIDENT STIGALE: No comments from the 6 public? Seeing none, like to call on 7 Commissioner Higgins, please. 8 COMMISSIONER HIGGINS: Make a motion to 9 take the meeting out of sine die. 10 COMMISSIONER McGINN: Second. 11 PRESIDENT STIGALE: All in favor? 12 Opposed? The "ayes" have it. 13 (Whereupon, all Commissioners 14 present vote "aye.") 15 PRESIDENT STIGALE: I would like to move 16 on to Line Item D, consider a motion to approve 17 MS4, storm water management program. 18 Commissioner Prendergast. 19 COMMISSIONER PRENDERGAST: Make a -- 20 consider a motion to approve MS4 storm water 21 management program. I make a motion to approve 22 MS4 storm water management program. 23 COMMISSIONER BOWDEN: Second. 24 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Any questions? That's LORRAINE EVANS 13 1 with what Joe just read. All in favor? 2 Opposed? The "ayes" have it. 3 (Whereupon, all Commissioners 4 present vote "aye.") 5 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Line item E, consider 6 a motion to approve committee appointments. 7 Commissioner McGinn. We have to do this one at 8 a time. 9 COMMISSIONER McGINN: Thank you. I would 10 like the Board to consider a motion to approve 11 Committee appointments. Make a motion to 12 appoint the following: 13 Bernadette Zeleznick, Fifth Ward, for a 14 three year term on the Public Library Board of 15 Trustees, form of a motion. 16 COMMISSIONER BOWDEN: Second. 17 PRESIDENT STIGALE: All in favor? 18 Opposed? The "ayes" have it. 19 (Whereupon, all Commissioners 20 present vote "aye.") 21 COMMISSIONER McGINN: I make a motion to 22 appoint Eric DeLellis, Fifth Ward, for a five 23 year term on the Zoning Hearing Board. 24 COMMISSIONER BOWDEN: Second. LORRAINE EVANS 14 1 PRESIDENT STIGALE: All in favor? 2 Opposed? The "ayes" have it. 3 (Whereupon, all Commissioners 4 present vote "aye.") 5 COMMISSIONER McGINN: I make a motion to 6 appoint Cathy Shortlidge, Third Ward, to a four 7 year term on the Aston Planning Committee. 8 COMMISSIONER BOWDEN: Second. 9 PRESIDENT STIGALE: All in favor? 10 Opposed? The "ayes" have it. 11 (Whereupon, all Commissioners 12 present vote "aye.") 13 COMMISSIONER McGINN: I make a motion to 14 appoint Thomas Cozza, Third Ward, to a five 15 year term on the Southwest Delaware County 16 Municipal Authority. 17 COMMISSIONER BOWDEN: Second. 18 PRESIDENT STIGALE: All in favor? 19 Opposed? The "ayes" have it. 20 (Whereupon, all Commissioners 21 present vote "aye.") 22 COMMISSIONER McGINN: Make a motion to 23 appoint Laura Goodrich Cairns, Fifth Ward, to a 24 five year term on the Southwest Delaware County LORRAINE EVANS 15 1 Municipal Authority. 2 COMMISSIONER BOWDEN: Second. 3 PRESIDENT STIGALE: All in favor? 4 Opposed? The "ayes" have it. 5 (Whereupon, all Commissioners 6 present vote "aye.") 7 PRESIDENT STIGALE: That's all. Thank 8 you. 9 COMMISSIONER HIGGINS: What happened to 10 John Mancinelli? 11 MR. DeVUONO: That was tabled for tonight. 12 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Moving on to Line Item 13 F, consider a motion to approve the purchase of 14 a gallon dump truck for Public Works. 15 Commissioner Prendergast. 16 COMMISSIONER PRENDERGAST: Consider a 17 motion to approve the purchase of a gallon dump 18 body truck for Public Works. Make a motion to 19 approve the purchase of a gallon dump body for 20 the Aston Township Public Works Department in 21 the amount of $35,600, form of a motion. 22 COMMISSIONER BERRY: Second. 23 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Questions or comments? 24 Pretty much just trying to keep the fleet up to LORRAINE EVANS 16 1 the speed. All in favor? Opposed? The "ayes" 2 have it. 3 (Whereupon, all Commissioners 4 present vote "aye.") 5 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Line item G, consider 6 a motion to approve the purchase of a truck for 7 the Public Works. Commissioner Prendergast. 8 COMMISSIONER PRENDERGAST: Consider a 9 motion to approve the purchase of a 2020 F-550 10 Chassis truck for Public Works. Make a motion 11 to approve the purchase of a 2020 F-550 Chassis 12 truck for the Aston Township Public Works 13 Department in the amount of $48,100, form of a 14 motion. 15 COMMISSIONER BERRY: Second. 16 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Questions or comments? 17 All in favor? Opposed? The "ayes" have it. 18 (Whereupon, all Commissioners 19 present vote "aye.") 20 MR. DeVUONO: Mr. Chairman, the truck and 21 the dump portion go together, so it's only one 22 vehicle, not two separate vehicles. You have 23 to buy it in two pieces. 24 PRESIDENT STIGALE: And if you don't know LORRAINE EVANS 17 1 what that looks like, look out tomorrow 2 morning. It will be plowing your snow. 3 Line Item H, consider a motion to approve 4 the contract with Starfire Corporation. 5 Commissioner Dougherty. 6 COMMISSIONER DOUGHERTY: Make a motion to 7 approve the contract with Starfire Corporation 8 for the 2021 Fourth of July fireworks display, 9 in the amount of $17,000, form of a motion. 10 COMMISSIONER BOWDEN: Second. 11 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Questions or comments? 12 All in favor? Opposed? The "ayes" have it. 13 (Whereupon, all Commissioners 14 present vote "aye.") 15 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Call on Commissioner 16 Higgins for escrows. 17 COMMISSIONER HIGGINS: Thank you. 18 Following amount is for engineering fees to be 19 paid to Pennoni Associates for the month of 20 February, summary total of a lot of individual 21 escrows, the amount is $3,711.50, form of a 22 motion. 23 COMMISSIONER PRENDERGAST: Second. 24 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Questions or comments? LORRAINE EVANS 18 1 All in favor? Opposed? The "ayes" have it. 2 (Whereupon, all Commissioners 3 present vote "aye.") 4 COMMISSIONER HIGGINS: That's the short 5 form of escrows tonight. 6 PRESIDENT STIGALE: At this time, I'd like 7 to turn the microphone over to the public. If 8 you have something, please step forward, need 9 your name, address. 10 A VOICE: Good evening. Terry Hladish, 15 11 Gordonville Road. I have three things. do I 12 have to come back three times? 13 PRESIDENT STIGALE: The floor is yours. 14 We'll address one at a time. 15 MS. HLADISH: First is it appears -- what 16 I know of anyway, three different instances 17 where telephone poles were on fire within a 18 very short distance from my house. One in 19 front of 620 Convent Road, one in front of -- 20 on Dogwood Lane right -- the first telephone 21 pole up on Dogwood Lane, and another one at 638 22 Convent Road, so down the hill a little bit. 23 Within the last six months I have seen all 24 three of those telephone poles on fire. LORRAINE EVANS 19 1 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Are they the 2 transformers on those poles that are on fire on 3 the top? 4 MS. HLADISH: On the top, yes, and the one 5 on Dogwood there was tree branches right above 6 it. I did send the Commissioner the video. He 7 probably passed it around to you guys. 8 MR. DeVUONO: If I can speak on that, John 9 did pass your video on to me. I reached out to 10 our PECO representative and they are looking 11 into why so many at one time are going. So we 12 are investigating it for you. 13 MS. HLADISH: I talked to the firemen and 14 they said -- who did I talk to? It was the 15 firemen. They said it happens when it's misty, 16 raining, but the one that I saw in front of 620 17 Convent was in the middle of the day in the 18 summer, early fall. And I don't know anything 19 about these -- the guy did say they're like 30 20 some years old and they probably need replaced, 21 and they might even be illegal at this point 22 because of toxic substances that are in the 23 transformers. I don't know anything about 24 that, but somebody said it. LORRAINE EVANS 20 1 MR. DeVUONO: We are taking care of it for 2 you and looking into what the problem is and 3 the fireman is right, a lot of them are old and 4 at the end of their life. 5 MS. HLADISH: It's scary. The one was in 6 the middle of the night. If someone hadn't 7 seen it, it could have burned up somebody's 8 house. The one on Dogwood was under a tree. 9 The one on Convent was not that bad. Anyway, 10 that's one. 11 Two, you all have the rule about the 12 sidewalks that we went to a meeting last week 13 about, a house on Gordonville Road that was 14 requested to have a sidewalk put in. Of course 15 it really -- I think it was waived and there's 16 also a lot of houses along Convent Road that 17 were at that meeting where I think they were 18 probably waived as well, to have the sidewalk 19 put in. 20 I was wondering if we might want to 21 consider changing the rule a little bit for 22 certain roads where it's not -- we are not able 23 to have a sidewalk. Convent Road, there's 24 nowhere to put a sidewalk, that part of Convent LORRAINE EVANS 21 1 Road, not the whole road. But going down the 2 hill, the houses are very close to the road. 3 Some of them butt right up against the road. 4 Seems like a lot of work for you guys. And I 5 know a lot of angst for the homeowners. The 6 lady next to me was so scared because she 7 didn't have that kind of money to put in a 8 sidewalk. 9 PRESIDENT STIGALE: I'll have Commissioner 10 Higgins, New Construction, he can address that. 11 COMMISSIONER HIGGINS: Were you at the 12 meeting the other night? 13 MS. HLADISH: Yes. 14 COMMISSIONER HIGGINS: I thought you were. 15 Generally we want to put sidewalk and curbing 16 on every street in the township generally, but 17 there are some circumstances. For example, if 18 your yard takes a plunge down and you have to 19 put retaining walls up, so we will look at 20 things like that to determine if we are going 21 to grant a waiver or not. 22 Commissioner Dougherty and I are currently 23 putting together a plan to look at streets or 24 portions of streets in neighborhoods that may LORRAINE EVANS 22 1 or it may not apply to. We are not there yet. 2 And we are also going to be putting 3 together a listing of things or items where you 4 would not mandate sidewalks, and one could be 5 where you have the yards that take a quick drop 6 down, the one house at 647 Convent. That 7 house, the yard drops down immediately about 8 five, six feet. That and other situations 9 where, let's say, you have to put the sidewalk, 10 you might have three huge fifty or sixty year 11 old trees, things like that. So we are working 12 to identify that. So we are not there yet. 13 So we understand there are some situations 14 where it may be necessary to grant a waiver. 15 Other ones where it may not be necessary. So 16 we are looking after that. And that was 17 waived, by the way. The change to the 18 ordinance is not -- has not been considered 19 yet. So we are still working on the current 20 program where the New Construction Committee 21 grants the waiver, but it will eventually move 22 over to the full board with recommendations 23 from the committee. Is that clear? 24 MS. HLADISH: Yes. And then, the last LORRAINE EVANS 23 1 thing is when I was at the meeting last week 2 and I talked about this there then too, just 3 the fact that Convent Road is now, the part 4 from where Gordonville and Dogwood meet, that 5 hill going down, we have the new beautiful 6 Chester Rails to Trails there and a lot of 7 people are using Convent Road now, they're 8 walking down to the Rails to Trails, and 9 there's nowhere for them to walk. Even though 10 there's no room for a sidewalk there is a 11 drainage thing there. And I brought this up 12 then too. 13 Maybe the township would consider like 14 resurfacing that so it's flat? It's a mess. 15 It's dangerous to walk there. And I know 16 there's kids along there that have to walk out 17 to the school bus. I see a lot of people 18 walking there now. It's something to throw out 19 there. 20 COMMISSIONER HIGGINS: That's certainly a 21 good question because with the advent of the 22 Rails to Trails, more people are walking down 23 to the trail where they are close by. So, on 24 some streets there's consideration for sidewalk LORRAINE EVANS 24 1 and curbing because there is a trail and the 2 concern for people getting there. So, that is 3 in Commissioner Dougherty's ward. He will 4 be -- we'll be bringing that back to discuss. 5 MS. HLADISH: Once you get to the bridge, 6 that's all been redone, there's a nice sidewalk 7 there and you can even get almost up to the 8 Rails to Trails. There's a little danger spot 9 there where Parkmount Road meets, that's a 10 little shady right there. Most people seem to 11 be very careful driving. I walk the trial 12 almost every day and people are really good 13 about stopping at the stop signs in the middle 14 of nowhere. 15 COMMISSIONER HIGGINS: You have never 16 heard me rant about people not stopping. 17 John, you want to add anything to this? 18 COMMISSIONER DOUGHERTY: I know Terry 19 well. I try to honk when I drive by her. 20 She's always walking. One of the problems we 21 have on Convent Road, we can't put sidewalks on 22 such a narrow road. I know what she's talking 23 about, the left hand side of the road when 24 you're going down, there's a slight depression, LORRAINE EVANS 25 1 a lot of macadam is sort of being lifted up. 2 It's a dangerous situation. I don't have the 3 answer yet. 4 MS. HLADISH: One of the reasons I think 5 is because a lot of the drains on Gordonville 6 and Dogwood going down that hill get clogged 7 and then mountains of water are going down 8 Convent. I actually try to keep them cleared 9 off when the township doesn't get to it. I 10 know they are busy. But that's one of the 11 reasons I think it happened. Because it was 12 good for awhile, then we had -- last year we 13 had all that rain and things got out of hand. 14 That's it. Thanks for listening. 15 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Thank you. 16 A VOICE: My name is John Markos. I live 17 at 2345 Weir Road, down at the bottom of the 18 hill. I have been in touch with some people in 19 here, not everybody together. The last time we 20 had a special meeting and all this stuff. But 21 anyhow, everybody knows about what happened 22 last August about the water down there and all 23 that. 24 One week I lost my fence twice. That's LORRAINE EVANS 26 1 fine. I am not worried about that. Since then 2 my house is sinking. My foundation is eroding. 3 And my back yard is like (indicating) a gully. 4 When I bought the house it was straight. Now 5 it's like this (indicating), because of the 6 pipe underneath the house, which is -- that's 7 over time and all this stuff, as long as 8 nothing on the foundation of the house. Up to 9 now it's terrible. 10 Now, in result of that I have big 11 problems. First of all, I hire a contractor 12 myself and I built a retaining wall back there. 13 On my own expense, without waiting for everyone 14 else to get some kind of insurance on my own. 15 Cost me a few bucks, actually almost $2,600 to 16 divert the water. It's a lot of damage. I 17 don't know what's going on underneath it there, 18 when the water comes down under the grass and 19 under the thing, I have no idea. 20 But the thing is here I can get relief 21 from the insurance company. The insurance 22 company says you have to have flood insurance. 23 In order to obtain flood insurance you have to 24 live in the flood zone. Now, I put that LORRAINE EVANS 27 1 question to you. Can we do anything about 2 that, number one? 3 MR. VISCUSO: That's a difficult question. 4 FEMA, the Federal Government, they set the 5 flood zones in all of the municipalities, 6 townships throughout the US. So, and it's -- 7 there's a lot of criteria they use to establish 8 flood zones. And you have to do a what they 9 call apply for a map amendment to have the 10 flood plane changed. My personal feeling, I 11 don't think you would be successful. That's 12 just me talking off the top of my head, but we 13 don't -- the township does not establish flood 14 zones. They're established by the Federal 15 Government for the township. 16 MR. MARKOS: I understand that, but in 17 order for me, I can't afford to establish 18 something like that to get a flood zone. I am 19 afraid one morning I am going to get up and my 20 half of the house will be down. 21 MR. VISCUSO: You can't purchase flood 22 insurance from an insurance company unless 23 you're technically in a FEMA flood zone. 24 MR. MARKOS: Exactly. That's what I'm LORRAINE EVANS 28 1 talking about. 2 PRESIDENT STIGALE: What pipe is he 3 talking about under -- 4 MR. VISCUSO: I don't know the exact 5 location. I am assuming under Weir Road and 6 down to the park. 7 MR. MARKOS: I am on the front line. My 8 house is -- it has the most -- 9 COMMISSIONER PRENDERGAST: You lost your 10 wall or gate? 11 MR. MARKOS: I lost more than a gate. 12 COMMISSIONER HIGGINS: Are you the first 13 house or second house? 14 MR. MARKOS: First house. 15 COMMISSIONER HIGGINS: At the corner? 16 MR. MARKOS: On the corner, first house, 17 and it's there because the last time I asked 18 for official thing, and I don't want to point 19 people and all that stuff, they said what do 20 you want from me? Those houses weren't 21 supposed to be built there in the first place. 22 Excuse me? 23 COMMISSIONER HIGGINS: I said to Jim, 24 today they wouldn't have built them. LORRAINE EVANS 29 1 MR. MARKOS: Anyhow, what I am trying to 2 say here, the other day I got my tax bill. My 3 property value went down because of all that. 4 My taxes went up. Can't afford it. I am 5 retired. What's going on here? What's the 6 options I have? Little advice? 7 PRESIDENT STIGALE: I am trying to 8 understand your question. Your assessment went 9 down and your taxes went up? 10 MR. MARKOS: My property value went down 11 because of now I know with all this going on 12 with the floods and thing like that, the 13 property value has gone down that way. 14 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Your assessment from 15 the County, what did that do? 16 MR. MARKOS: I don't know. I am talking 17 about the township and the other ones, all of a 18 sudden from last year, almost $100 up for the 19 year. 20 COMMISSIONER PRENDERGAST: That's your 21 assessment. 22 MR. MARKOS: Gentlemen, ladies, we try 23 equity of the house. We work all our lives for 24 this. I don't know what my options are. Seek LORRAINE EVANS 30 1 legal advice? Anything done about this 2 flooding water? Going to have any relief as an 3 individual homeowners because of that? 4 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Yes. This issue at 5 Weir Road has been a thorn in our backs for a 6 long time. Unfortunately there's government 7 agencies that we have to talk to to get 8 approval to do things. And there's some of 9 that time restrictions that have delayed what 10 we really want to do there, they're not 11 allowing us. So, Mr. Viscuso, we get a report 12 every year. We are back and forth with the 13 state and everyone to try to get approval to 14 get this done. Unfortunately it's a slow 15 process? 16 MR. VISCUSO: We are doing another project 17 upstream which will help Mr. Markos, Concord 18 Square. That will take some of the pressure 19 off of that. As we talked in the past, 20 eventually we have got to do some more work 21 where the pipe goes across and through that 22 yard, eventually be replaced. The work we are 23 doing on Concord Square will help Mr. Markos. 24 COMMISSIONER HIGGINS: John, could you LORRAINE EVANS 31 1 explain to Mr. Markos -- like right now, Mr. 2 Markos, my house was something like, before the 3 reassessment, mine was something like $132,000. 4 I am giving you -- making this up. I believe 5 mine was $132,000. Called the assessment 6 value. So now the county reassessed. And this 7 time they used the fair market value. So the 8 fair market value of my house, in their 9 estimation, is something like $210,000, 10 $220,000, but the actual value of my house, if 11 I go to sell it, based on the houses in my 12 neighborhood, the same, are somewhere around 13 $260,000, $240,000. 14 So, because my house came up at say 15 $240,000, that's not really the value of your 16 house. That's what they look at it as being. 17 That doesn't mean your house values went down. 18 I don't know if I am making myself clear. 19 That's the way the County -- you have to talk 20 to a realtor to see what your house value 21 really is. Wouldn't that be the case, John? 22 COMMISSIONER DOUGHERTY: Yes, that's 23 correct, Mike. Remember, they did this 24 county-wide, the reassessment, so every LORRAINE EVANS 32 1 property was affected. For all of Aston, I 2 think our average assessment went up roughly 80 3 some percent. I am surprised your assessment 4 did go down. 5 MR. MARKOS: I didn't say my assessment 6 went down. Personal observation and all that, 7 because, first of all, I don't plan to move. I 8 can't afford it. If I want to sell my house I 9 have to disclose all these things, the flood, 10 this and that, all kinds of stuff. That's the 11 law. So then, realtor say this is supposed to 12 be that much. It was, the house across the 13 street sold for that much. Yours is not that. 14 And already took some hints about that. That's 15 my whole thing in there. 16 COMMISSIONER DOUGHERTY: I would recommend 17 you appeal your assessment. 18 MR. MARKOS: That's one option is that, 19 yes, I understand that. My other stuff, as an 20 individual homeowner, because of that 21 situation, because you have to understand this, 22 it's not the fault of our own that the water is 23 gushing down on our property. You do 24 understand that. LORRAINE EVANS 33 1 PRESIDENT STIGALE: We do. We thought 2 what we did at Newsome's Pond would relieve a 3 lot of that. 4 MR. MARKOS: Made it worse. 5 MR. VISCUSO: The back to back storms that 6 we had on the 4th and 7th, and they are burned 7 into my brain, throughout the county, were 8 worse than any storms we have had -- since they 9 were back to back storms, they were worse than 10 any storms that we've had recorded in a long 11 long long time. So those storms were off the 12 charts. What happened was, and I think what 13 Mr. Stigale was alluding to, we wanted to do 14 more work in Newsome's Pond, that park, we 15 wanted to do more work. We were not allowed to 16 do it, due to DEP regulations. We wanted to do 17 more. 18 The first storm, since it occurred on that 19 Tuesday the 4th, filled up all of the retention 20 ponds in the township, and the second storm 21 came so close behind, there was no place for 22 the water to go from that second storm. So 23 that storm on the Friday was worse than the 24 storm on the Tuesday. Believe me, I saw the LORRAINE EVANS 34 1 videos of your property and I have been down 2 there many times over the years. That was 3 worse than anything I had seen. 4 MR. MARKOS: You have been around for a 5 few years also, and because we have been 6 promised from the township, from the 7 Commissioners and all that, that thing was in 8 the progress 30 years now, not now, 30 years. 9 There has to be something to be done about it. 10 That pipe underneath there is only four inch 11 diameter and doesn't take the water. Supposed 12 to open up the mouth on the other side to get 13 the water on the other side. That's one of the 14 big problems with that. And that's my thing in 15 there. 16 PRESIDENT STIGALE: What we did, we 17 evaluated from Weir Park all the way back how 18 the water gets to there. We addressed -- we 19 had a couple of meetings on that. What we are 20 trying to do is catch it from the top, the 21 highest point where it comes down and deviate 22 or collect so it's not a massive rush down to 23 Weir Road. So that's the project Mr. Viscuso 24 was speaking of, doing something further up to LORRAINE EVANS 35 1 get some of that water before it goes down. 2 Before it was just coming right down. We are 3 trying to do what we can. There's a major 4 issue with that other pipe underneath because 5 it's right there where the sewer pipe is. 6 MR. MARKOS: I understand what you're 7 saying, time involved and all the regulations. 8 In the meantime, as I said, for us it's an 9 emergency. For me it's an emergency. I am 10 lost. I don't know what to do. I am afraid 11 one morning when I get up half of my house is 12 not there. 13 MR. VISCUSO: The money we had, because we 14 couldn't do all the work we wanted to do in 15 Newsome, we got the state to allow us to take 16 that money and do another project in Concord 17 Square Park. We had a meeting about that a 18 month ago. The Board will be taking bids and 19 awarding that project at their March meeting. 20 That will, as Mr. Stigale said, alleviate some 21 of that water from coming down to even getting 22 to Weir Road. We are going to collect it at 23 Concord Square in the park. There will be 24 something done. We have to spend that money LORRAINE EVANS 36 1 prior to June 1st. That project will be done 2 in April and May as to further help your 3 situation. 4 MR. MARKOS: I certainly hope so. My 5 problem is my house. My problem is my house, 6 and I am at your mercy. Thank you, gentlemen 7 and ladies. 8 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Anyone else? Seeing 9 none, any callers, Mr. DeVuono? 10 MR. DeVUONO: No. 11 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Moving onto other 12 business, Commissioner Dougherty. 13 COMMISSIONER DOUGHERTY: I want to say 14 Lorraine, thank you, enjoy your retirement and 15 I am sorry I always talk so fast. 16 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Commissioner 17 Prendergast. 18 COMMISSIONER PRENDERGAST: More or less, 19 the same thing, Lorraine, thank you for 20 everything you have done. And everybody stay 21 safe, try to get these Corona shots. 22 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Commissioner Berry. 23 COMMISSIONER BERRY: Again, thank you, 24 Lorraine. And welcome aboard Joe McGinn. LORRAINE EVANS 37 1 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Commissioner Higgins. 2 COMMISSIONER HIGGINS: Thank you. 3 Lorraine, congratulations on retirement. Don't 4 move out too fast. We value the service you 5 provide. Also want to welcome Joe McGinn, look 6 forward to working with him, especially on the 7 New Construction Committee. Good luck, Joe. 8 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Commissioner Bowden. 9 COMMISSIONER BOWDEN: Welcome, Joe. I 10 have to remember not to call you Joe Joe. Mr. 11 McGinn. Everybody be safe tonight with the 12 pending storm. As you all probably have heard 13 by this point, our schools are on virtual 14 tomorrow, so be safe. That's all I have. 15 Thank you, Lorraine. 16 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Commissioner McGinn. 17 COMMISSIONER McGINN: Thank you. First 18 off, Nancy, you can call me that. At one point 19 I actually was smaller than you, which is hard 20 to believe. Thank you for the kind words from 21 the Commissioners. I know I have big shoes to 22 fill in Carol Graham's great family, and we'll 23 really miss Carol. 24 Ultimately, for those that don't know me, LORRAINE EVANS 38 1 I have five children, raising them in Aston 2 Township with my wife and ultimately we like 3 Aston and we bought our starter home here and 4 then we bought a bigger home when we found out 5 we were having a bigger family. We believe in 6 Aston. It's a good town and want to work with 7 the Commissioners and everyone else to make it 8 better. 9 And for those that might be watching 10 tonight or Second Ward residents, I look 11 forward to getting out and meeting you as well 12 as residents from the rest of the town and 13 ultimately try to recruit folks that are 14 interested in also making the town better, to 15 get involved, to volunteer. And to a lot of 16 folks that are spending a little bit of time, 17 try to encourage them to spend a little more 18 time and keep getting more and more involved to 19 keeping the town a better place to live. 20 Commissioner Stigale, thanks for the time, and 21 That's all I have. 22 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Thank you very much. 23 Ms. Naughton-Beck. 24 MS. NAUGHTON-BECK: Just want to welcome LORRAINE EVANS 39 1 Commissioner McGinn and congratulations, 2 Lorraine on your retirement, although I'm 3 hoping that you come back and substitute quite 4 a bit. 5 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Mr. Viscuso. 6 MR. VISCUSO: Same thing, congratulations 7 to Joe for assuming that seat down there. 8 Lorraine, best of luck. This is the first time 9 I had to put a suit coat on since March. 10 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Mr. DeVuono. 11 MR. DeVUONO: Welcome, Joe, and Lorraine, 12 I know you'll be sitting next to me for awhile. 13 She's not going to run away. Try to take a 14 little bit of time off. Congratulations. 15 PRESIDENT STIGALE: Lorraine, personally, 16 on behalf of the Board, thank you so much for 17 all you have done for us. We wish you well in 18 your endeavors. 19 Commissioner McGinn, welcome you to the 20 Board. Look forward to working with you. 21 Would like to thank Public Works. Last couple 22 of storms these guys did a great job. Putting 23 pressure on them for tonight. I'm sure they're 24 going to be out there trying to keep us safe. LORRAINE EVANS 40 1 They do work hard, not only to get the snow, a 2 lot of other items done throughout the township 3 and offer them water or something if you see 4 them, but they're out their working hard and we 5 want to thank them and wish them luck during 6 tonight's storm. With that, I need a motion to 7 adjourn. 8 COMMISSIONER PRENDERGAST: Make a motion. 9 COMMISSIONER BERRY: So move. 10 (Whereupon, the meeting is 11 concluded at 7:45 p.m.) 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 LORRAINE EVANS 41 1 REPORTER'S CERTIFICATION 2 I HEREBY CERTIFY that I was present upon the 3 hearing of the above-entitled matter and there 4 reported stenographically the proceedings had and the 5 testimony produced; and I further certify that the 6 foregoing is a true and correct transcript of my said 7 stenographic notes. 8 9 _______________________ Lorraine Evans 10 Reporter-Notary Public My Commission Expires 11 October 25, 2022 12 13 14 15 16 (The foregoing certification of this transcript does 17 not apply to any reproduction of the same by any 18 means, unless under the direct control and/or 19 supervision of the certifying reporter.) 20 21 22 23 24 LORRAINE EVANS