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MINUTES OF NOCKAMIXON TOWNSHIP The special meeting was held on Wednesday, January 24, 2007 at the Township building in Ferndale, PA. Members present were Chairman, James Litzenberger, Supervisors: Henry Gawronski, Bruce Keyser and Nancy Janyszeski; Solicitor, Terry Clemons; Zoning Officer, Peter Bent arrived at 7:19 PM; Vice Chairman K. Gross arrived at 7:29 PM; Arlene Eichlin, Township Secretary was absent. (A. Morales, Asst. Secretary filled in.) Meeting opened at 7:10 PM by Chairman J. Litzenberger with a salute to the flag. Pledge of allegiance: Public stands J. Litzenberger begins with the review of the proposed gas and oil amendment. The non-underlined and non-highlighted areas are basically how the Ordinance is currently. The underlined areas are areas that were put through the planning commission which includes Mr. Bruce Baizel’s comments. J. Litzenberger stated that changes could be suggested at this time, but would still have to be reviewed by the Planning Commission. J. Litzenberger stated that the earliest that it could possibly be put through would be about March, 2007, however, having another special meeting would be considered. Review of the G-18 – Recovery of Subsurface Gas and Oil Deposits and Discussion of understanding the amendment took place. These changes will still have to go to Bucks County Planning Commission and Nockamixon Township Planning Commission. He advised the public that he would not oppose another special meeting to discuss the amendment. H. Gawronski stated that it seems like all the information that was removed in the past was entered back into this proposed amendment. J. Litzenberger replied that the planning commission made a recommendation to re-insert that information and that is why we are here tonight. J. Litzenberger asked the Board if they have any comments or tort changes regarding what has been drafted for us by the Township Solicitor. B. Keyser stated that the only thing he could possibly see at this point is that the amounts may be unreasonable. J. Litzenberger wanted to reiterate that the board will be requesting suggestions from both the Planning Commission and the Township Solicitor regarding amounts. N. Janyszeski noted that a definition should be outline regarding the annual increase of 5%. N. Janyszeski stated that we should consider that you may not be able to get homeowners’ coverage on affected areas that may or may not be damaged. H. Gawronski stated that he is not in favor of these changes that Clemons has inserted at this time. B. Keyser suggested that the Board should allow Bucks County to review it and await their comments. N. Janyszeski replied that there are a few things for example the amount of money that can be requested and whether those funds can or should be inclusive. She also suggested that the Board review and go over each instance which has dollar amounts. J. Litzenberger agreed and the Board concurred that starting with page 1. The Board reviewed the proposed amendment. B. Keyser reminded the board that he was sure that the Township would not be able to get a “wear & tear” fee out of the applicants. N. Janyszeski recalled the discussion but was unsure what it covered. As per the Consolidated Ordinances for Subsurface Recovery of Oil and Gas Deposits that we are reviewing page 13 paragraph 7 reads “There will be an annual road use (wear and tear) fee of $XX,XXX.XX per mile of Township road, increased 5% each year. Initially the road will be brought up to standards based on the anticipated load of the anticipated construction and operational traffic (According to PennDOT and the Township Engineer specifications) and maintained until the well is closed. A fine of $XX,XXX will be imposed in addition to using the funds in the maintenance bond in the case of a violation. This section needs to be determined by the Planning Commission.” J. Litzenberger said that Al is here from the Planning Commission and posed the question regarding page 13; item number 7 where it talks about annual road use per mile cost. Al Santepeitro replied $100,000.00 a mile. B. Keyser asked if the engineer said if that could or could not be done. Al Santepeitro stated that that what is here today is not what the Planning Commission proposed since day one. Al. Santepeitro said it’s up to the Board of Supervisors to figure out what the penalties are going to be, the Planning Commission is only a recommendation Board. I think you have to know what the legalities of the proposed Ordinance. J. Litzenberger and the Board proceeded reviewing the changes. H. Gawronski stated that he feels the Board needs guidance from someone to let them know whether it’s a fair and equitable price. PUBLIC COMMENT: H. Nast commented that she feels the Board needs an experienced Pennsylvania in Oil and Gas drilling. She suggested that the Board seek special counsel for this ordinance. J. Litzenberger stated that Bruce Baizel a lawyer that is experienced in these types of matters and Baizel sent his comments and the Township Solicitor and they should be incorporated in this proposed ordinance. J. Litzenberger reminded the Board that he would not oppose meeting again on this issue. N. Janyszeski agreed. J. Litzenberger there is a section regarding screening the site, I am going to make a note that some of the language that Mr. Baizel suggested. J. Litzenberger also said that he suggests that we should send this back with our comments made tonight for re-review. The board discussed the viewsheds and whether or not they are be determined and outlined in the amended ordinance. J. Litzenberger commented that the proposed viewshed mitigation as it is outlined in the proposed ordinance are identified and reads “All viewsheds to the property shall be identified.” J. Litzenberger asked is it defined here? Should it be further defined? Do we question paragraph 7 and send it back to the Planning Commission? N. Janyszeski stated we set the last fee let’s set this one. The board after review and further discussions they moved on to review page 12 number 14. J. Litzenberger suggest it should read as follows: Failure to provide an emergency response team to the well site within two (2) hours of notification will result in charges to cover the costs of Fire Department, emergency services, emergency management and police emergency, equipment standby as needed, plus a fine of $5,000. There are no other changes to page 12. The Board reviewed page 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 and had no comments at this time. J. Litzenberger stated page 18 is all new entries regarding Groundwater contaminations etc. N. Janyszeski read “TEN MILLION and 00/100 Dollars ($10,000,000.00) per well site, adjusted from time to time by the Township, must be posted to guarantee reclamation of each well site.” J. Litzenberger reminded N. Janyszeski that out legal counsel has told us about this section. We can send the comments to the Planning Commission. J. Litzenberger commented that he was ok with reclamation being set at $250,000.00 on reclamation only. H. Gawronski commented that you can do a lot with $250,000.00. Al Santepeitro commented that the he was sure that the Gas and Oil Administration has a fee for recapping wells which is like $2,000.00. J. Litzenberger stated that Township legal counsel recommended removal of these items. B. Keyser said its designed to put an area back to its natural state, $2,000.00 will not do 100 square feet. H. Gawronski said each situation is different. J. Litzenberger reminded the Board and the Public that these numbers are just “guesstimates”. Ed Kemble commented that when you consider replacing pipelines and other pertinent parts of a road, then these numbers don’t seem to be astronomical. N. Janyszeski commented the Board should set the footage. H. Gawronski said that it depends on the perimeters of what they use, they use very little. H. Nast commented that a similar situation is happening in Virginia. J. Litzenberger stated that the Board will have T.J. work on item 3. N. Janyszeski this is what is says under Hazardous Event. “Submission of a bond or other financial security in the amount of not less than ten million and 00/100 Dollars ($10,000,000.00) per well site, adjusted from time to time by the Township, must be posted to guarantee funds for financial expenses due to any hazardous event that may occur at the site.” H. Gawronski stated that they spent $800,000.00 in the late 70’s. Nancy said is says here at the end of the line expenses due to any hazardous event that may occur at the site, we need to define “site”. What is this amount of money for, does it go beyond that site. Maybe we should define it to read anything beyond the site is X amount of dollars. After discussion and deliberation the Board J. Litzenberger concurred and added that we should suggest the cost per well. N. Janyszeski said we are more on tract now then before and maybe we should complete review tonight and forward it to the solicitor. The board continued to Groundwater Contamination section and Nancy read “Submission of a bond or other financial security in the amount of not less than ONE BILLION AND 00/100 Dollars ($1,000,000,000.00) per well site, adjusted from time to time by the Township, must be posted to guarantee funds for financial expenses due to any event that contaminates the groundwater that may occur at the well site.” N. Janyszeski commented that the term “any event” is loosely stated. N. Janyszeski that every well in Nockamixon should be tested before any drilling. J. Litzenberger commented that it should be the way it was instead of placing a dollar amount there and the terms “the same or better” should be added somewhere. N. Janyszeski stated maybe based on the standards at the time of the testing. H. Gawronski stated it must comply with the federal government and county. J. Litzenberger replied that’s a given. J. Litzenberger moved to the fines and penalties section of page 18. N. Janyszeski read the fines provision. “Any person violating any provision of this subsection R shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than One Thousand ($1,000.00) Dollars per day of violation and costs of prosecution, and in default of payment of such fines and costs, to undergo imprisonment….” I think that’s fine. J. Litzenberger asked the board if there were any other changes to the rest of the proposed amendments. No comments made. J. Litzenberger requests comments from the public and states anything that says Planning and/or Board of Supervisors will be removed. Bob Hansen commented that if the drilling takes about a year people will need some time off. J. Litzenberger replied maybe we should discuss the hours of operation on page 5. The discussion continued regarding the hours that would be recommended to the Planning commission for their comments. After deliberations and discussions regarding the newly added suggestions and public comment A motion made my N. Janyszeski and seconded by B. Keyser to incorporate the changes that we discussed this evening and those changes will be included into his amendment and sent to Bucks County Planning Commission and to Nockamixon Township Planning Commission. Motion carried 3-1-0 with H. Gawronski voting nay. OTHER BUSINESS: H. Gawronski shut the tape off at 9:09 p.m. and J. Litzenberger left the room to retrieve any additional letters that came in and returned at 9:12. J. Litzenberger reviewed the 2 proposals that are in hand one from Stanley N. Booz, LLC and Hutchinson, Gillahan & Freeh, P.C. J. Litzenberger noted that he was familiar with her work as he is with the previous auditor, Stanley Booz. H. Gawronski stated that he is familiar with Gillahan of the firm. A motion made by J. Litzenberger and seconded by B. Keyser to contract Hutchinson, Gillahan & Freeh, P.C. not to exceed $6,500.00 for the Fiscal Year 2006 Audit. Motion carried 3-1-0 J. Litzenberger stated that the Diesel and Gas bid Awards were not affective immediately. Ken had made the motion and it was worded I had seconded. H. Gawronski stated can’t we just make a motion to extend Farm and Home in lieu of rescinding the previous motion. J. Litzenberger agreed. A motion to extend Farm and Home 2006 bid contract till March 1, 2007. A motion made by H. Gawronski and seconded by B. Keyser to correct the typos regarding the Octane from 92 to 93 Octane. Motion carried 4-0-0 A motion made by H. Gawronski and seconded by J. Litzenberger to accept the service contract from January 16, 2007 to January 16, 2008, Farm and Home for the heating system at the 29 Old School Way property. Motion carried 4-0-0 A motion made by H. Gawronski and seconded by J. Litzenberger to accept the service contract from March 1, 2007 to March 1, 2008, Brinker’s Fuel for the tank and heating system at the Township Building for $149.00. Discussion with regard to the seating for the conference room and the sign in sheet for visitors and committee members and it’s the consensus of the Board to prepare a sing in sheet for meetings and a log book for visitors and committee meetings. N. Janyszeski asked the Board to purchase the 2003 Microsoft Office Publisher for the township for the purpose of preparing the Newsletter. A motion was made by N. Janyszeski seconded by H. Gawronski to purchase the 2003 Microsoft Publisher for the Township. Motion carried 4-0-0 J. Litzenberger reviewed the list from the EMC Insurance Building and Plants inspection. A. Morales stated that the inspector for EMC came in to inspect the building and grounds of the Township. G. Housworth and A. Morales attended the meeting and noted the inspector’s comments. J. Litzenberger asked if there was anything else that is needed. A. Morales replied the walkway carpets are fraying and need to be replaced with ones that have backing; The alarm system is off and the inspector said it should be on due to this being a public building and the discount on the policy for having a fire/security system that the township is given. J. Litzenberger asked why they were not on, A. Morales replied that George said there was a cat and it would set the alarms off and the board at that time stated it should be off. J. Litzenberger asked do we still have a cat, H. Gawronski replied no. J. Litzenberger stated let see what needs to be done to have the system up and running. The Mezzanine upstairs is not safe and there should not be clutter by the heating system; the attic has paint cans and there is no walk way; the outlets have exposed wires on the second floor and no outlet covers. A. Morales reminded the Board that they received a list of all the items that need repair or replacement and that George and herself were working diligently to comply with that list and once that was done the Board will get another list showing what was completed and when. H. Gawronski added if it needs to be done that it has to get done. OLD BUSINESS: J. Litzenberger requested Public Comment G. Westerfer asked if there was an update on the website, I heard from the grapevine about this meeting, I went to the website to see if there was a meeting notice and there was one for 10/2006. J. Litzenberger said that after the last meeting it was the consensus of the Board to order the Dreamweaver 8 software upgrade. J. Litzenberger noted that Arlene was in a car accident and that we will keep her in our thoughts for a recovery. Ed Kemble asked if there would be an interim secretary while she was out. J. Litzenberger stated that if there is a need then the Board will consider it. N. Janyszeski asked maybe we should consider someone to assist with the phones. Discussion about the possibility of hiring a temp while Arlene was out of the office. A. Morales stated the phones ring all day and that she feels most of the calls can be answered through the new voicemail system. A. Morales stated that’s what we have voicemail for why should the township pay for someone to answer the calls, when I can check voicemail when I have a minute. H. Gawronski commented that he was in the office today and he had to wait about 20 minutes just to ask A. Morales a question due to the business of the office. It’s the consensus of the board to take it day by day and see how long A. Eichlin would be out. Bob Hansen asked if it was possible to have an additional phone installed in the conference room for the purpose of having conference calls with committee members that are away. H. Gawronski expressed that it may not be a possibility. J. Litzenberger said that committees can conduct business over the phone when a key member can not attend a meeting. G. Westerfer stated that business gets done by conference call all the time. H. Gawronski stated that why should the township pay for call. N. Janyszeski mentioned that we do not get charged for incoming phone calls. N. Janyzsewski reminded the board that Ed Mocarsi asked for additional phones. J. Litzenberger stated that it was possible that J & B missed the EMC lines when he came in and informed the Board that Ed Mocarsi requested that J & B Communications come in and upgrade the phone lines in the conference room. J. Litzenberger allowed those changes to be made. A. Morales replied that the EMC for the township is requesting 3 phones for emergency use in case of a disaster. N. Janyzsewski asked that his request be in writing. J. Litzenberger agreed. Motion by Jim Litzenberger and seconded by N. Janyszeski to adjourn the meeting at 10:15 p.m. Motion carried 4-0-0. Respectfully submitted: Approved February 20, 2007 Angelic Morales, Asst. Secretary |
