News

Minutes of the Meeting of the Rush Township Board of Supervisors – May 1, 2009

Rush Township Municipal Building
Hometown, PA  18252

Minutes of the Monthly Meeting of the Rush Township Board of Supervisors

The monthly meeting of the Rush Township Board of Supervisors was called to order at 6:30 o’clock p.m. by Chairman William J. Sanchez, Jr.  Those in attendance were Vice-Chairman Shawn Gilbert; Supervisor Stephen Simchak.; Secretary/Treasurer Terri Conville; Attorney Robert Yurchak; and Officer Duane Frederick.  Approximately thirty-eight residents and two reporters were also in attendance.  The pledge of allegiance was then recited.
Ms. Conville read the following statement:  These proceedings are being recorded for the sole purpose of constituting the accuracy of written minutes.  Tapes are reused, eliminating recorded records of these proceedings. For the record, please state your name if you have comments to make.

American Water Services Report
John Tiejaro read the American Water Services report as of April 30, 2009.  A motion was made by Supervisor Simchak to accept the American Water Services report for the month.  Vice-Chairman Gilbert seconded the motion.    All voted in favor of the motion, carried.

Police Report
O.I.C. Duane Frederick read the police report for the month of March, 2009.  A motion was made by Vice-Chairman Gilbert to accept the police report.  Supervisor Simchak seconded the motion.  All voted in favor of the motion, carried.

Minutes of Previous Meetings
A motion was made by Supervisor Simchak to approve the minutes of the previous meeting March 17, 2009.  Vice-Chairman Gilbert seconded the motion.   All voted in favor of the motion, carried.

Treasurer’s Report
Ms. Conville read the treasurer’s report as of March 31, 2009.  A motion was made by Vice-Chairman Gilbert to accept the treasurer’s report.  Supervisor Simchak seconded the motion.  All voted in favor of the motion, carried.

Approval of Current Township and Sewer Bills for April, 2009
A motion was made by Supervisor Simchak to approve all current township and sewer bills for April, 2009.  Vice-Chairman Gilbert seconded the motion.   All voted in favor of the motion, carried.

Municipal Reports
A motion was made by Supervisor Simchak to accept all municipal reports and place them on file.  Vice-Chairman Gilbert seconded the motion.  All voted in favor of the motion, carried.

Correspondence
A motion was made by Vice-Chairman Gilbert to accept all correspondence.  Supervisor Simchak seconded the motion. Under the question, Chairman Sanchez, Jr. asked Ms. Conville to highlight the correspondence.
Key areas noted by Ms. Conville in the correspondence file for the month were as follows:
1.  Letter from Pa Office of the Attorney General
2.  Letter from North Schuylkill Landfill Association & Transfer Station
3.  Arro Engineering
4.  Letter from Edward Lyba
5.  Pa. Office of Open Records
6.  Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce
7.  E-Mail from Cathey Schimpf
8.  E-Mail from Schuylkill County E.M.A.
9.  Cerullo, Datte & Wallbillich, Attorneys at Law
10.  Schuylkill County Board of Commissioners
11.  Tamaqua Area School District
12.  Mahanoy Area School District
13.  Pa. Public Utility Commission
14.  Pa. Dept. of Environmental Protection
15.  PSATS News Bulletin
16.  PSATS Township Legal Defense Partnership
17.  Minutes from NESJMA
All voted in favor of the motion, carried.

Attorney’s Business – No report was given for the month.

Old Business

New Business
A motion was made by Supervisor Simchak to adopt Resolution #2009-04 granting a ten year extension of the existing KOZ conditioned upon the approval of DCED of the application. Vice-Chairman Gilbert wanted to know if the Morgan Knitting Mill Buildings could be included in the KOZ.  Frank Zukas, from SEDCO explained the KOZ was only for undeveloped properties and the legislation does not allow for it.  Zukas noted the ten year extension was for new businesses only that will continue on undeveloped properties.  The current KOZ expires in 2010 and anyone who relocated in the development would still get the ten year benefit for the next five years.  If they came in 2013, it would run until 2023.The motion was seconded by Vice-Chairman Gilbert.  Under the question, Marion Lazur wanted to know what about properties not in the KOZ.  All voted in favor of the motion, carried.
A motion was made by Supervisor Simchak to accept the Auditor’s report.  Vice-Chairman Gilbert seconded the motion.  All voted in favor of the motion, carried.
A motion was made by Vice-Chairman Gilbert to grant the request of the HMDR Motorcycle Club.  Supervisor Simchak seconded the motion.   Under the question, Chairman Sanchez, Jr. asked Ms. Conville to expand on the request in further detail.  Ms. Conville noted the request is to cross-over the roads in the township during the race that is being held on Sunday, June 21st.   All voted in favor of the motion, carried.
A motion was made by Supervisor Simchak to approve the request from the Rush Elementary School Association.   Vice-Chairman Gilbert seconded the motion.  Under the question, Chairman Sanchez, Jr. asked Ms. Conville to read the letter from the school.  All voted in favor of the motion, carried.
A motion was made by Supervisor Simchak to grant the request for a waiver of Section 602.4 for Plan #225-A MBC Development LP/Preliminary Land Development Plan.   The motion was seconded by Vice-Chairman Gilbert.  All voted in favor of the motion, carried.
A motion was made by Supervisor Simchak to grant the request for conditional approval of Plan 225A – MBC Development LP/Preliminary Land Development Plan in accordance to the recommendations of the Planning Commission.  The motion was seconded by Vice-Chairman Gilbert.  All voted in favor of the motion, carried.
A motion was made by Vice-Chairman Gilbert to grant the request for approval of the waiver to forego the submission of Sketch and Preliminary plans for #226A – Rush Township/Fox Subdivision.  The motion was seconded by Supervisor Simchak.  All voted in favor of the motion, carried.
A motion was made by Supervisor Simchak to grant conditional approval of Plan 226A- Rush Township/Fox Subdivision in accordance to the recommendations of the Planning Commission.   Vice-Chairman Gilbert seconded the motion.  All voted in favor of the motion, carried.
A motion was made by Vice-Chairman Gilbert for Dave Kerstetter and Dennis Rupert to attend government day by Medico Industries, Thursday 5/21/09 in Wilkes Barre and be paid their wages for this day.  Supervisor Simchak seconded the motion.  All voted in favor of the motion, carried.
A motion was made by Supervisor Simchak to grant the request to transfer $200.00 to a Police Petty Cash fund to be used for criminal investigations and have a policy put in place by our May 19th meeting.   Vice-Chairman Gilbert seconded the motion.  All voted in favor of the motion, carried.

General Purpose Public Participation
1.  Marion Lazur – minutes of the budget meeting of November 20, 2008 lists all three Supervisors in attendance and she believes William Sanchez, Jr. was absent.
2.  Charlie Haldeman – concerned about the flow of traffic in and out of Basile’s Restaurant located at the intersection of Lincoln Drive and Rt. 309. Mr. Haldeman also noted there are a lot of Junk cars in the township.  Mr. Haldeman stated there is a lot of logging taking place in the township.  Mr. Haldeman wanted to know the status on Hometown getting its own post office.   Tom Yashinsky, consultant from Arro Engineering, stated the logging issue can be addressed by an ordinance.  Yashinsky also noted Rt. 309 is a state road and the restaurant is grandfathered in.  The township does not have any jurisdiction.
3. Joe Pinkey – stated that every driveway on every state road needs to have an HOP.
4.  Cathey Schimpf – did note Basile’s Restaurant did go through the process and was granted their permit.
5.  Dan Poncavage – wanted to know if the Board ratified, signed and enacted the latest amendment to the ESP Inter-municipal Agreement.  Attorney Yurchak stated, no it has not been enacted.  Mr. Poncavage asked the Board if he could testify as a non township property owner at the upcoming input session for ESP.

Supervisor’s Response Period
Chairman Sanchez, Jr. noted that there is no soliciting in the township without a permit.

Recess
Chairman Sanchez, Jr. stated the Board would take a twenty-minute recess and then start the public hearing for ESP.

ESP
Chairman Sanchez, Jr. turned the meeting over to Attorney Yurchak at 7:30 o’clock p.m.  Attorney Yurchak stated there would be no minutes taken for this part of the meeting, but that there would be a tape made of the proceedings for future use.  Attorney Yurchak stated that comments or questions would be taken from those present and addressed by the ESP Board.  The public input session ended at approximately 8:30 o’clock pm.
Chairman Sanchez, Jr. continued with the monthly Supervisor’s meeting.
A motion was made by Vice-Chairman Gilbert for our Solicitor to advertise the following ordinances for 30 days:  the Joint Comprehensive Plan, the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance, and the Zoning Ordinance as proposed by the Eastern Schuylkill Planning Board.  Supervisor Simchak seconded the motion.  All voted in favor of the motion, carried.

Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at approximately 8:30 o’clock p.m.

Transcribed and Attested

Terri Conville, Secretary/Treasurer

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