MINUTES

 DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY                              LOWER ALLEN TOWNSHIP

 REGULAR MEETING                                              OCTOBER 21, 2019

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

Salvatore F. Marone, Treasurer                                     Steven Miner, Solicitor

Edward Black

 

Max Stoner, Chairman called the meeting of the Lower Allen Township Development Authority to order at 6:01pm and announced Proof of Publication was available for review.

 

John Eby absent with excuse.

PUBLIC COMMENT: NONE

 

APPROVAL OF CORRECTED MINUTES OF AUGUST 19, 2019

Mr. MARONE made a motion to approve the corrected minutes as requested for the August 19, 2019 meeting. Mr. YOUNG seconded the motion. Motion carried, 3-0.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 16, 2019

Mr. YOUNG made a motion to approve the minutes of the September 16, 2019 meeting. Mr. STONER seconded the motion. Motion carried, 2-0 with Mr. Marone abstaining since he was not present.

Mr. Black entered the meeting at this point.

 

ACTION: APPROVAL OF TESTIMONY FOR REDEVELOPMENT OF 1500 AND 1510 CEDAR CLIFF DRIVE

Mrs. Trone asked the Board if they wanted to develop the testimony in a broad sense so that when or if it does go forward you would have something ready or do you want to table it waiting for it to move forward. Discussion ensued. The Board made the decision that Mr. Marone would be giving the testimony on behalf of the Development Authority. The Board made the decision to table this action at this time.

 

ACTION: APPROVAL TO INCREASE BUDGET FOR MCMAHON

Mr. BLACK made a motion to increase McMahon’s contract by $7,590. Mr. MARONE seconded the motion. Motion carried, 3-0.

 

DISCUSSION: DEMOLITION OF BON-TON

Mrs. Trone updated the Board explaining they have began the demolition of the Borders building. November 6^th @ 3:30pm has been set as a tentative date to start the demolition of the Bon-Ton building.  It will be a media event since she has gotten a lot of contacts from people that want to be present.  Mrs. Trone is asking to budget $1,000 to promote the event.  They will be inviting various people that assisted with the project and also local dignitaries.  She explained they will be asking Bone Fish Grill and also Texas Roadhouse to be part of it also with serving hors d’oeuvres. Mr. YOUNG made a motion to budget $1,000 for the event on November 6^th for the demolition of the Bon-Ton building. Mr. MARONE seconded the motion.  Motion carried, 3-0.

 

DISCUSSION: BURGER KING SALE

Mrs. Trone explained the sale closed two weeks ago for $850,000. 

 

DISCUSSION: SPRINGHILL SUITES

Mrs. Trone explained that there was a media release on this. It is moving forward.

 

STAFF- PROJECT UPDATE:

Mrs. Trone had sent out the following staff project updates prior to the meeting and gave the Board a high level update during the meeting due to time constraints:

1. Penn DOT Surplus Land

• Penn DOT has agreed to do the appraisal of the surplus property in-house. This should save the Authority some money. They are waiting to move the project forward until they have a drainage plan since we have asked to use Penn DOT’s basin for our stormwater.
• We have NOT proposed to purchase the Penn DOT’s basin. The proposal has been made that they allow us to retrofit the basin for our project’s stormwater and in turn we would maintain the basin for them.
• The excess land- is not just Penn DOT property is was purchased with Federal funding- this will elongate the time for acquisition.

1. Stormwater
   • BL has been working a plan. They were waiting additional survey from ALPHA which they received last week. They have met with the County Conservation District. We have meeting to review the plan on Oct. 29^th before we take it to Penn DOT.
2. Condominium Documents
   • We hired McNeese to rewrite the condo documents for the property. This was simpler than trying to amend the existing documents which were drawn up with the assumption that a building that will not longer exist was the primary owner. We have received a draft and are reviewing it with our realtor and property management team. Once they are more complete, they will be distributed to tenants and future tenants.
3. Budget
   • I am working on a budget for 2020. I will have it for our review by the November meeting. I will distribute it earlier, so it can be reviewed in advance. It can be adopted in November or in December.
4. Snow Removal

• PMI, our property management company is handling the snow removal this year. They already collected bids, and SnoServices was selected again for the site.

1. CAT Bus
   • Dan Flint and I met with CAT representatives to discuss the park and ride location during construction and possible locations following construction. There are some viable options that very close to the site. I communicated with the residents that came to the meeting and they were satisfied with the options presented. The park and ride will stay on site during construction and I will continue to communicate with the riders and CAT as the site plan becomes firmer.
2. Other Projects in the Township
   • Field and Stream has closed at the mall and is being converted to a Sportsman’s World.
   • Outback is estimated to open in December
   • Mavis Tire is estimated to open in December too.
3. Blight Control
   • Working with County to develop more regional approach to blight
   • Developing an abandoned property ordinance to require properties without occupants to register with the township with a point of contact
   • Sent County an update blighted properties list

 

NEXT MEETING OF THE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

The next meeting of the Development Authority is scheduled for Monday, November 18, 2019 at 6:00pm.

 

ADJOURNMENT TO EXECUTIVE SESSION AT 6:28 to discuss Real Estate Transactions:

Mr. MARONE made a motion to adjourn to executive session. Mr. YOUNG seconded the motion. Motion carried, 3-0.