Meeting Minutes
Mercer County
Regional Planning Commission
TUESDAY, March 26, 2002
7:30 PM - MCRPC OFFICES, HERMITAGE
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MUNICIPALITY
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PRESENT
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ABSENT
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FARRELL CITY
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Jerry Miller
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Mark A. Petrillo
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HERMITAGE CITY
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James A. Rollinson
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Rita Ferringer
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James Pat White
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SHARON CITY
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George
Gulla
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Frank Smeraglia
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Stephen Theiss
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Lou Rotunno
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CLARK BOROUGH
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Robert Tomko
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James Carucci, Jr.
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FREDONIA BOROUGH
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Larry McAdams
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Patricia McAdams
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GREENVILLE BOROUGH
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Burroughs Price
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GROVE CITY BOROUGH
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Clifford McCandless
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JACKSON CENTER BOROUGH
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Todd Sturgeon
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JAMESTOWN BOROUGH
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Doug McElhaney
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Darryl Pinney
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MERCER BOROUGH
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Jerry Johnson
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Jim Carnes
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NEW LEBANON BOROUGH
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Janice Good
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Mary A. Ziegler
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SANDY LAKE BOROUGH
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Carol Paul
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Robert W. Kaltenbaugh
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SHARPSVILLE BOROUGH
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Alex Kovach
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Bob Piccirilli
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STONEBORO BOROUGH
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Samuel A. Scott
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WEST MIDDLESEX BOROUGH
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Linda Bollinger
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Raymond Lucich, Jr.
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WHEATLAND BOROUGH
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Ray Foster
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Thomas R. Stanton
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FAIRVIEW TOWNSHIP
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Jane Clark
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Mont Clark
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FINDLEY TOWNSHIP
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John B. Courtney
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Elliott Lengel
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HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP
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Pamela Brown
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Russell L. Dawes
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JACKSON TOWNSHIP
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Linda L. Baun
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Mary Gealy
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JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP
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Bert Weston
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Robert F. Angermeier
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LIBERTY TOWNSHIP
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Dave Beatty
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Ron Faull
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NEW VERNON TOWNSHIP
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Albert W. Law
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Frank Cochran
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OTTER CREEK TOWNSHIP
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Richard Straub
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Paulette Young
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PERRY TOWNSHIP
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Richard Marshall
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PINE TOWNSHIP
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H. Thomas Paxton
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Fred Brenner
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PYMATUNING TOWNSHIP
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Walter L. Weir, Jr.
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James M. Kaller
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SHENANGO TOWNSHIP
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Charles Gilliland
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Kristen Robinson
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S. PYMATUNING TOWNSHIP
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Mike Nashtock
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Mourice Waltz
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SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP
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Judy L. Hassler
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Larry T. Gruntz
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WILMINGTON TOWNSHIP
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Jeff Hoy
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Charles Garrett
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WOLF CREEK TOWNSHIP
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Mark Smith
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Jim Morton
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MERCER COUNTY
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Richard A. Mackell
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Jeff Fiedler
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James L. Hogan
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Lynn Christman
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Patty Meehan
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Jean Hodge
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BOROUGHS ASSOCIATION
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David George
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SUPERVISORS ASSOCIATION
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COUNTY COMMISSIONER
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Olivia M. Lazor
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STAFF
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OTHERS PRESENT
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Dennis
G. Puko, Executive Director
Dan Gracenin, Assistant Director
Don
Blakesley, Recycling Coordinator
Jeremy Coxe, Planner
Fred Frank, Planner
Chris Conti, Senior Planner
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Mike
Montanile, Wolf Creek Twp.
Chuck Bestwick, Harshaw's Real Estate
Barbara Brown, Springfield Twp.
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CALL TO ORDER
Mr. Larry McAdams, Chairman, called the
meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
PRAYER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Mr. Cliff McCandless, Vice-Chairman, led
the Commission in the prayer and Pledge of Allegiance.
ATTENDANCE SIGN-IN
An attendance sign-in sheet was passed
around and representatives present were asked to mark their attendance. A
quorum was present.
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON ANY AGENDA ITEM
There were no public comments.
MINUTES OF THE
JANUARY 22, 2002 MEETING
A motion was made by Mr. Hoy and seconded
by Mr. Beatty to approve the Minutes of the January 22, 2002 meeting with no
additions, corrections, or deletions. The motion passed.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
A motion was made by Mr. Scott and
seconded by Mr. Faull to approve the February 2002 Financial Statement as
presented. The motion passed.
STAFF REPORTS
Mr. Conti stated that he completed the
2002 CDBG entitlement applications for Greenville Borough and Pine Township. He
also completed a modification for Pine Township, which involved modifying their
2000 CDBG funds to allow them to complete a project. He noted that he assisted
Wheatland Borough in procuring a consultant to begin their housing
rehabilitation program from the funds they received from their 2001 CDBG
application. Also, he is assisting three fire departments in the County in
preparing assistance to firefighter grants through the Federal Emergency
Management Agency.
Mr. Frank stated that Wolf Creek Township
would be drafting up a new ordinance and MCRPC would assist them in developing
this zoning ordinance. An informational meeting was held recently and on April
15th another meeting is scheduled to begin the foundation of a new
zoning ordinance.
Mr. Coxe reported that the Mercer County
Solid Waste Authority is in the process of doing their 4th annual
recycling poster contest for grades K-6. We received 1,160 posters, which was
the most we ever received. Over the next few weeks, the staff would be going
over these and selecting winners. The grand prizewinner would receive a $300.00
savings bond and all of the individual grade level winners would receive $150.00
savings bond. He stated that this is in promotion of recycling in general and
recycling in schools and would be promoted during Earth Week, which starts April
22nd. Winner’s names and posters will be posted at the mall and in
the newspaper. He also stated that over the past two months, he has been
collecting recycling information from businesses and institutions around the
County to make a better effort in obtaining recycling numbers. He is happy to
report that he had a great success in receiving information and a lot of
recycling tonnages, which had not been reported, in order to raise the Counties
recycling rate. He then stated that he has been involved in helping out with the
Sharon/Farrell Weed and Seed Program, which the weed part is a program through
police enforcement and the seed part is a program through revitalization. MCRPC
is helping to prepare a plan to help revitalize areas in Farrell and Sharon.
Mr. Puko reported on the upcoming update
of the County Comprehensive Plan and the integration of a number of
multi-municipal cooperative comprehensive plans within that. The University of
Pittsburgh, who has been working with us to investigate the planning law
changes, finished the project and yielded a number of very positive benefits and
incentives associated with the law. He also emphasized that MCRPC has their
staff set and has a top-notch group of employee’s.
ZONING & SUBDIVISION REVIEW COMMITTEE
REPORT
Mr. Scott, Chairman, reported that the
Committee met last week, a quorum was present and took action on the following
items:
1. Rezoning Request – Pymatuning
Township – Mr. Scott stated that we received a
request to rezone 54.941-acres on Edgewood Drive, west of Route 18, from
Residential One-Family (R-2) to Agricultural-Rural (R-1) to allow the
construction of a medical clinic on 30.046-acres. In addition to the requested
rezoning, the Zoning and Subdivision Review Committee recommended that the R-1
zone be extended east up to the Business-Highway Service (B) zone that parallels
Route 18, therefore eliminating the small piece of land that would have remained
zoned R-2. A motion was made by Mr. Scott and seconded by Mr. Rollinson to
approve the requested rezoning and extension of the R-1 zone east to the
Business zone. The motion passed.
2. Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment –
East Lackawannock Township – Mr. Scott noted
that the Township would like to amend the text of their Zoning Ordinance to
allow non-conforming residential dwellings to be rebuilt if they are destroyed
by a natural disaster. A motion was made by Mr. Scott and seconded by Mr. Paxton
to approve the requested Zoning Ordinance text amendment. The motion passed.
3. Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment –
Jackson Township – Mr. Scott stated that the
Township would like to amend the text of their Zoning Ordinance to clarify the
status of "tourist homes". A motion was made by Mr. Scott and seconded
by Mr. Beatty to approve the requested Zoning Ordinance text amendment. The
motion passed.
4. Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment –
Mercer Borough – Mr. Scott stated that the
Borough would like to amend the text of their Zoning Ordinance to properly
reference a section concerning signs and clarify the dimensions and height of a
sign. A motion was made by Mr. Scott and seconded by Mr. Pinney to approve the
requested Zoning Ordinance text amendment. The motion passed.
AUTHORIZATION FOR STAFF APPROVAL OF MINOR
SUBDIVIISONS
Mr. Frank reported that this is an action
that is to be taken annually, which authorizes the approval by MCRPC staff on
behalf of the full Commission of minor subdivisions under the Mercer County
Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance. A motion was made by Mr. Hoy and
seconded by Mr. McElhaney to approve this action. The motion passed.
RESOLUTION TO AUTHORIZE PURCHASES THROUGH
STATE CONTRACT
Mr. Gracenin stated that PennDOT asked
that we pass a Resolution to allow MCRPC to make purchases through a Statewide
contract. In the past, we were not able to do that. In 1998, there was a law
change, which now makes MCRPC eligible to join in the Statewide contract. He
stated that this Resolution is necessary in order for MCRPC to purchase traffic
counting equipment, or other items such as paper, copying machines, computers,
etc., which could be a big cost savings for the Commission. After passing the
resolution, the Commission would need to inform PennDOT of our purchases so they
can keep a tab on how well the program is working across the State. A motion was
made by Ms. Lazor and seconded by Mr. Hoy to approve a Resolution to authorize
MCRPC to make purchases through a State contract. The motion passed.
TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS UPDATE
Mr. Gracenin stated that Mercer County
received a draft 2003-2006 TIP (Transportation Improvement Program) from PennDOT
containing $79 Million worth of highway projects, below the $94 Million
requested. Several high priority projects are under funded or not funded. Mr.
Gracenin reviewed some of the local initiative projects and where they stand on
the TIP. He noted that the engineering process has been going slow on various
projects throughout the County, which is very disappointing. The draft TIP will
be discussed in further detail at the April 3rd MPO meeting where
they will adopt a TIP.
CURRENT LEGISLATION PROPOSALS
Mr. Puko briefly discussed the State Water
Resources Conservation and Protection Act. Under this act, the following steps
would be addressed: 1) require the State Water Plan to be updated; 2) identify
critical water planning areas; 3) create a water conservation program; and 4)
set water well construction standards. (A copy is attached to and made a part of
the permanent record of Minutes). He next commented on a report regarding Blight
Bills, which is a summary of various bills with personal observations and
comments. (A copy is attached to and made a part of the permanent record of
Minutes). Mr. Puko next discussed a pending House Bill #2385, which would amend
Act 101. (A copy is attached to and made a part of the permanent record of
Minutes). Mr. Blakesley commented on House Bill #2190, which is strictly the
reauthorization of the $2.00 fee. He was informed that this House Bill was
tabled on March 12, 2002. He also explained that there is another pending House
Bill #2345, which is similar to House Bill #2190, but the fee would be $5.00. He
noted that the General Assembly feels confident in House Bill #2190 passing.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business or discussion,
the meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m.
Submitted and Certified By:
James Pat White, Secretary - MCRPC
Mercer
County Regional Planning Commission
2491 Highland Road, Hermitage, PA 16148
mail@mcrpc.com www.mcrpc.com
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