MINUTES

DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY                              LOWER ALLEN TOWNSHIP

REGULAR MEETING                                              APRIL 17, 2017

 

The following were in ATTENDANCE: 

AUTHORITY MEMBERS                                        TOWNSHIP PERSONNEL

Max Stoner, Chairman                                                 Erin Trone, Township Assistant Manager

Peddrick Young, Vice Chairman                                   Mary Ellen Banks, Recording Secretary

John Eby, Secretary                                                     

Salvatore F. Marone, Treasurer

Edward Black

 

PUBLIC IN ATTENDANCE

None.

Chairman Stoner called the meeting of the Lower Allen Township Development Authority to order at 6:04pm and announced Proof of Publication was available for review.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF MARCH 20, 2017

Mr. EBY made a motion to approve the minutes of the March 20, 2017 meeting with correction under Staff Update of Capital City Mall; should be stated “serious demolition” rather than “serious demotion”. Mr. YOUNG seconded the motion. Motion carried, 4-0.

PUBLIC COMMENT: There were no comments from the public.

ACTION: APPROVAL TO SIGN AND FILE 2016 990 FORM

Mrs. Trone explained further the 990 Form was sent to the Board via email for review. Mr. EBY made a motion to authorize signature and submission to the IRS for the 2016 990 form. Motion was seconded by Mr. MARONE. Motion carried, 4-0.

STAFF UPDATE

Mrs. Trone reviewed the following:

• Comprehensive Plan – Visioning week is going to be May 1^st thru May 4^th by holding various workshops throughout the day and evenings; the kick-off for this week will be held here on May 1^st at 6:00pm and then there will be meetings during each day; on Tuesday at Bethany Village during the day and Tuesday evening at Christ Community Church; Wednesday in Rossmoyne Business Center at Member’s First headquarters during the day and at the Barn in the evening; on Thursday evening, the 4^th in the evening will be a wrap-up meeting here. She suggests the Board members try to come to at least one of the meetings. Mrs. Trone had forwarded the link for the survey and requests each of the Board members to complete. In addition, she brought postcards to be passed around, possibly to your neighbors. The board had chosen John to represent them as part of the focus group sessions.

Mr. Eby stated Cumberland County Collaborative which is a multi-agency environmental focus group is having an event on the 11^th of May from 5:30-8:00 at the Penn Township Fire Hall. This group’s primary focus is “how can economic development still occur in Cumberland County but still be cognizant of farmland preservation, open space preservation, and recreation.” Mr. Eby suggests people attending the comp plan events be made aware of this meeting.

Mr. Black entered the meeting at this point.

• Amusement Device Ordinance – Mrs. Trone explained they presented proposed ordinance changes to the Board of Commissioners last week who agreed to advertise it so it will be presented to them for voting on May 8^th. Discussion ensued concerning comparable licensing in other Townships: Hampden Township does not have this ordinance, Susquehanna Township has a charge at $200/license. Discussion ensued.
• Prison Property – Commissioner Black and Mrs. Trone met with Representative Sheryl Delozier and had a conference call with Secretary Wetzel who is the Secretary of the Department of Corrections. On that call, he seemed to indicate they were okay to letting go of some of the prison property. He also indicated they had created a map that showed the land they were willing to divest. Mr. Black further explained the Secretary mentioned the name of Bradley Swartz and indicated it was okay for us to make a contact with him which Mr. Black did. Mr. Swartz got back to Mr. Black and explained he was not aware of any such plan so he referred him to the professional engineer employed by Corrections and so far there has been no call back. Discussion ensued.

Mr. Eby reviewed the following:

• Capital City Mall – There are lots of activities going on in and around the Mall. It is on fast track for the contractors to have the renting of the Sears space ready to turn over to Field and Stream sometime in August is the plan; however, unfortunately, they are going to be bringing in change orders for us to re-review on some layout changes the store may have. The permit was issued for the new addition on the outside where the rest of Sears was. And, it is official now that Dave and Buster’s is the mystery tenant at the Old Navy end of the Mall. Plans are imminent on this for us to receive and start doing construction code review which he thinks will necessitate Old Navy relocating to other space so things are very busy at the Mall.
• Pennsylvania American Water Company –as you know Pennsylvania American Water is relocating its corporate headquarters to Lower Allen Township from Derry Township. The Commissioners in the second meeting in March received a presentation from the Township engineer and also some individuals from the Water Company were present. There are some outside agency issues and revisions to do and then at the appropriate time, it will be presented back to the Commissioners for action on the land development plan. So, it is moving along but was not quite ready for action on this two meetings ago.

NORFOLK SOUTHERN RAILROAD DISCUSSION:

Mr. Black explained he has made a suggestion to Mr. Vernau, Lower Allen Township Manager, to write a letter to Jeff Haste, Dauphin County Commissioners because the letter that came from Rudy Husband of Norfolk Southern had various untruths in it. Mr. Black thinks we need to straighten some of these facts out and give them to Commissioner Haste who has been a big help to us. However, Mr. Black was told to wait because there is a Harrisburg Area Transportation Study (HATS) meeting on Friday which will either authorize Commissioner Haste to respond to Rudy Husband’s letter or not. Mr. Black’s recommendation is if Lower Allen Township cannot get the underpass, we immediately go the PUC and ask them to require Norfolk Southern to make the underpass pedestrian safe. Discussion ensued.

NEXT MEETING OF THE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

The next meeting of the Development Authority is scheduled for Monday, May 15, 2017 at 6:00pm.

ADJOURNMENT

Mr. EBY made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. MARONE seconded the motion. Motion carried, 5-0. Meeting adjourned at 6:29pm.