[0:10] Who rise by the

[0:18] United States of America and to the Republic, which it stands, one Nation under

[0:24] God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[0:31] Good evening. Can we have a roll call, please, babe?

[0:36] Mr. Mizel?

[0:37] Here.

[0:38] Ms. Petry-Betsey?

[0:39] Here.

[0:40] Ms. Whitman?

[0:42] Here.

[0:43] Mr. Burnside? Present. Mr. Green's not here. Mr. Magerman?

[0:48] Here.

[0:48] Mr. Kessey? Here. Mayor DeLuca?

[0:51] Here.

[0:53] Okay. Once again, good evening.

[0:57] First up, I see we don't have a mayor's report tonight. Is that correct?

[1:01] No, we don't have anything at this point.

[1:03] Yes?

[1:03] No.

[1:04] Okay. Thank you. All right. Okay, first up on our agenda is the appointment

[1:10] of David R. Nyman as secretary and Right-to-Know officer.

[1:17] I'll make that motion.

[1:18] I'll second.

[1:21] You make a motion?

[1:23] Oh, okay. So I'm making a motion for

[1:27] Dave Nyman to be the secretary and Right-to-Know officer, and that is what was

[1:33] first-

[1:34] Yeah

[1:34] ... then second. Any comments from council? The public? All in favor?

[1:40] Aye.

[1:44] Aye.

[1:51] Okay. Okay, first, a few announcements.

[1:54] Council met in executive session on August 17th for personal matters,

[2:01] August 18th for potential litigation, and we'll meet again

[2:06] on August 22nd for personnel matters.

[2:12] Okay.

[2:15] That was a little bit out of order. Next up is a certificate of appropriateness,

[2:21] 9 East Bridge, entrance door, color change to gold foil. Can I have a motion?

[2:26] I'll make that motion.

[2:28] I'll second.

[2:30] Any comments from council?

[2:33] No. Do we have a picture of that up there?

[2:39] I like the color of the door.

[2:41] Very creative and really-

[2:42] Yeah.

[2:42] Mm-hmm.

[2:43] Gold foil.

[2:45] Makes it stand out. Yeah.

[2:47] Yeah.

[2:47] Just for everyone's benefit, we can see what's going on.

[2:50] Yeah.

[2:51] Thank you, Erin.

[2:52] Great.

[2:53] Any comments from the public? All in favor?

[2:57] Aye.

[3:00] Aye.

[3:00] Okay.

[3:04] Certificate of appropriateness 4 East Mechanic, a sign installation.

[3:08] Can I have a motion?

[3:10] I'll make the motion.

[3:11] I'll second.

[3:14] Any comments from council?

[3:16] Do we have a picture of that or-

[3:19] B something?

[3:23] Okay, so-

[3:29] It was up. Yeah.

[3:33] Yeah. I don't know if it was that one.

[3:34] Zoom in. I think there was an actual picture.

[3:39] No.

[3:41] Do you want to bring it up?

[3:43] Maybe.

[3:49] Yeah, I-

[3:49] Aaron, so if you bring it up so it's that B spot right there.

[3:51] Yeah, you see where it says B5? It's not color...

[3:57] We do it in the colors.

[4:00] Oh, that's it. So-

[4:02] Yeah

[4:02] ...

[4:04] any comments from council?

[4:07] No. From the public? All in favor?

[4:10] Aye.

[4:11] Aye.

[4:11] Okay. Next is a certificate of appropriateness, 17 through 19

[4:17] West Mechanic sign installation. Can I have a motion?

[4:20] I'll make that motion.

[4:22] I'll second.

[4:24] Okay, and I know that the applicant is here tonight.

[4:29] Welcome to West Mechanic.

[4:33] Any comments from council?

[4:37] No, great sign.

[4:38] Cool. Yeah.

[4:39] And any comments from the public?

[4:44] Okay, all in favor?

[4:46] Aye.

[4:47] Aye.

[4:47] Good luck in your new location.

[4:54] Okay.

[4:56] Next up is a resolution to adopt Bucks County

[5:01] 2026 Hazardous Mitigation Plan. Can I have a motion?

[5:07] I'll make the motion.

[5:08] I'll second.

[5:09] Okay. I'm going to defer to our zoning officer for a brief description of what

[5:15] we're talking about here.

[5:17] Yeah, so basically, every municipality is required to update their hazard

[5:21] mitigation plan every five years.

[5:24] This was spearheaded by the Bucks County Planning Commission.

[5:28] The basis for the requirement is to be eligible for funding in

[5:34] the event of disaster, for pre and post-disaster funding, and it's required through

[5:39] FEMA.

[5:40] Okay.

[5:41] All right.

[5:42] The county really tries to keep each municipality from having to do this on their

[5:46] own, and they do it cooperatively, and they involve members from each of the

[5:50] municipalities in the county to help with that.

[5:54] They do it about, I think, every five years. Is that Lisa?

[5:57] Correct, every five years.

[5:58] Yeah.

[5:58] Excellent.

[5:59] Very good.

[6:00] Thank you.

[6:01] Okay, comments from council?

[6:04] Nope.

[6:04] From the public? All in favor?

[6:08] Aye.

[6:11] Next up is adoption of a tax claim ordinance.

[6:15] This was advertised on August 2nd-

[6:19] Yeah

[6:19] ... and approved by council. Can I have a motion?

[6:22] I'll make that motion.

[6:23] I'll second.

[6:25] Okay. This basically was a means by which

[6:30] any unpaid taxes, real estate taxes,

[6:36] this organization that would

[6:41] collect those money would

[6:45] give us 95%, and they'd keep 5%. Well, this new arrangement is that we get 100% of

[6:50] their monies. So it was a win-win for us.

[6:55] So, we don't have that many unpaid real estate taxes that it amounts

[7:01] to much money, but it's still a benefit for the borough, and that's what

[7:06] we're voting on tonight. Any additional comments from council?

[7:12] No. Good job.

[7:13] From the public? All in favor?

[7:16] Aye.

[7:17] Aye.

[7:18] Aye.

[7:18] Okay, next up is the consideration of approval to submit Bird Town PA

[7:23] application and fee. Can I have a motion?

[7:26] I'll make the motion.

[7:27] I'll second.

[7:28] Okay.

[7:33] Anne, you want to, yeah, give us a little...

[7:36] You want to talk a little bit about it?

[7:38] This is your-

[7:44] Pam Kerr. K-E-R-R. Sorry. No, I don't want to talk about it,

[7:51] obviously.

[7:55] Matt was supposed to be here. He gave the presentation at the workshop, and

[7:59] basically, the Environmental Advisory Council would like to add the Bird Town

[8:04] PA certification to the borough. It is

[8:12] possible to do this and come in at the Silver level, and within a couple of months,

[8:16] be at the top Gold level because a lot of the basis is

[8:22] the Naturalizing New Hope certification and the Shade Tree

[8:28] certifications. And then we'll build on it over time to do more things that are

[8:33] good for the birds. But we basically not only qualify, but we qualify well up the

[8:39] scale at this point. And Pam, as far as getting to the Gold level, is it building

[8:43] up the native habitats to attract more birds? Is that how we get to that?

[8:49] It is. It probably comes down to a few points of proclamations and things, and then

[8:55] the big work is the long-term work, where lights out during...

[8:59] We're not going to do that all in two seconds. That's going to be long-term.

[9:02] So this is just the sort of basis to say we have been committing to the Shade Tree

[9:08] USA and to the National Wildlife Federation's Wildlife Habitat.

[9:15] So this is building so that over time we have a fundamental basis for doing better.

[9:21] But I forget what exactly we need to be gold.

[9:23] I think it's more paperwork points than it is because we've got so much stuff

[9:27] already going on.

[9:27] Already. Okay.

[9:30] Any other comments for Pam or-

[9:33] No. Great way to build on the work you've already been doing with naturalizing New

[9:36] Hope and the Shade Tree Commission's good work and everything, so great to expand

[9:41] that work.

[9:42] I've heard. Yeah. Thank you.

[9:43] Keep us going.

[9:50] Lori, L-O-R-I. Stagnitto, S-T-A-G-N-I-T-T-O.

[9:58] Kudos to Pam and to the groups for

[10:03] wanting New Hope to be a bird down, but unfortunately, I just wanted to say, we are

[10:08] taking away their natural habitats at an alarming rate.

[10:13] Trees are being cut down left and right.

[10:16] Developers are taking out as much greenery and habitat as they

[10:21] can, and it's just something we really have to be aware of and careful of.

[10:27] I think about the Mansion Inn, had two massive trees and gardens and greens and

[10:33] shrubs behind it, and now if you go back there, it's just concrete and stone, and

[10:39] there's nothing green back there at all.

[10:41] It's like an entire block of New Hope has no greens anymore.

[10:47] Every time they put up one of these massive houses on the river, they're taking

[10:52] down the massive trees along the river where our eagles and hawks

[10:58] and songbirds stop. So there's that.

[11:04] And of course, it's interesting, the Bucks County Audubon Society just put out

[11:10] lights out for the next month or so because of bird migration, but yet we

[11:16] have things like the bridge and the bright lights

[11:21] that are so bad for birds and wildlife.

[11:24] So I think we really have to be on top of this and especially our trees. Thanks.

[11:29] Thank you. Any other comments from the public?

[11:35] Okay, I neglected to add that we have $160

[11:40] application fee with this for... We get two signs, I think, for free, and we're

[11:46] paying for one because the recommendation was to get three, so it's $160

[11:52] application fee with this. So just want to add that to the motion, and

[11:58] if there's no other comments from the public or council, all in favor?

[12:02] Aye.

[12:05] Next up is the consideration of temporary tent exception request for Parry Mansion

[12:10] Museum. Can I have a motion?

[12:12] I'll make that motion.

[12:13] I'll second.

[12:15] That's okay. Okay.

[12:19] I think I have a couple photographs describing it.

[12:23] They're going to have tents up for about a month.

[12:28] I think it's about a month. Three weeks, three and a half weeks, I think was the-

[12:32] Yeah. Yes, two weeks. Yeah, it's going to be naturally screened-

[12:36] From the landscape

[12:37] ... by the landscaping. Yeah.

[12:38] Okay. So

[12:40] they have the necessary insurance policies and it looks like it's a substantial

[12:46] looking structure.

[12:48] It's next page. There you go.

[12:50] There you go.

[12:53] Any comments from council?

[12:55] No, just that it's an artist spotlight that they're highlighting within, right?

[12:59] It's a series of local artists that they'll be sponsoring as part of it, so it's to

[13:04] highlight the arts in town, which I think is a worthwhile endeavor. Yeah.

[13:09] Yeah. The application says September 11th through September 25th.

[13:13] 11th through the 25th.

[13:13] So look forward to seeing the programming that's going on there, and yeah,

[13:18] highlighting our town.

[13:21] Any other comments from council?

[13:24] Anything from the public? All in favor?

[13:28] Aye.

[13:31] Okay, next up is consideration approval to hire Eva

[13:37] Guasconi with a visitor center, a much-needed position

[13:43] filled. Can I have a motion?

[13:45] I'll make that motion.

[13:46] I'll second that.

[13:47] Is Eva here?

[13:48] Is Eva here? No.

[13:50] No. Okay.

[13:50] Okay.

[13:51] She is

[13:53] being hired for $12 an hour, and she's going to act as a

[13:59] fill-in and a much needed respite for the active

[14:06] employees of the visitor center, so we're glad that we've brought in some

[14:10] reinforcements. Any comments from council?

[14:16] I think this will allow us to potentially offer the visitor center more hours on

[14:20] holidays and so forth as well. So we had had two part-time staff, but this way we

[14:26] can hopefully have yet another resource to be able to be open more for people,

[14:30] because it definitely matters.

[14:32] Yeah, and we're really trying, along the same lines, we're trying to figure out

[14:37] with Victoria's help and everything, is identifying pulses of activity in the

[14:43] borough that would make and warrant the

[14:48] opening of the visitor center during the times where it's not open now.

[14:53] It's both for restrooms and for the help that the visitor center provides.

[14:57] So, I'm sure Victoria might have something more to add to that.

[15:03] We're hoping seasonally for Fridays.

[15:06] Right.

[15:06] So hopefully throughout December, and then we can reevaluate in the new year and

[15:12] look towards other dates or perhaps coordinating with the playhouse for matinee

[15:18] performances.

[15:19] Perfect. That's great.

[15:20] That's great. Yeah.

[15:21] Or like Black Friday perhaps or something, things like that.

[15:24] Yeah. Ken and I met with the playhouse, and that's something that they're very

[15:27] interested in seeing us support to be able to be open around the times of the

[15:30] matinee, so that would be awesome.

[15:32] And we're getting into budget season now, so we'll make sure that we take all that

[15:37] into consideration for next year and trying to get the hours and not have you had

[15:43] struggle as much as you had during the-

[15:47] No.

[15:48] Keeping the place open just with the two of you.

[15:51] So any other comments from council?

[15:54] Anything from the public on Eva's...

[15:58] Her name is G-U-A-S-C-O-N-I, and

[16:03] we're happy to have her wherever she is.

[16:07] Any other comments from the public? All in favor?

[16:11] Aye.

[16:13] Aye.

[16:13] Okay, next up is the consideration parks and rec request to

[16:20] compensate a mural artist to paint the grate at the Ferry Landing Park.

[16:24] Can I have a motion?

[16:26] I'll make that motion.

[16:27] I'll second.

[16:28] Okay, this is Ferry Landing Park. There's a

[16:35] sewer grate, and so it's going to be memorialized in the best way that

[16:41] they could possibly...

[16:44] Is the artist here tonight? No. Okay. All right.

[16:49] Do we have a rendering of it, of what she has in mind?

[16:56] This is something that you've talked about in the past.

[16:58] I think the difference is when it was originally discussed, it was going to be

[17:03] someone from the high school doing it, and there wasn't any expense involved.

[17:07] And so the only reason it's on your agenda is there's money in the budget for park

[17:12] and rec, but this was not specifically-

[17:14] Yeah

[17:15] ... budgeted, so that's why we put it on the agenda.

[17:18] Okay.

[17:18] But it was a project that council, I believe, was very much in favor of.

[17:22] Yes, definitely.

[17:22] And we got permission from Bucks County Water and Sewer because of sewer grate.

[17:27] Right. I understand.

[17:29] I just wanted to, for those who, since we don't have anything, I think the sketch

[17:34] is going on and we're pretty sure what it is, but you don't have the visual, but

[17:39] it's by Hope Gabor Bek, who did John and Peter's, who is just did the Ferry

[17:45] Landing interior, and is about to rehab the Beatrix Potter mural at

[17:51] the library that nobody's seen before, but it's really there. So, it's exciting.

[17:57] It's going to be bright.

[18:00] Bucks County Water and Sewer had okayed it. I think Public Works help clean it.

[18:05] Everybody's involved.

[18:06] They

[18:07] okayed that it be done, but they didn't okay the design.

[18:13] They don't need-

[18:14] We okayed that. We trust Hope.

[18:17] Okay. No, because I'm just wondering if that should be a provision for us in terms

[18:21] of seeing it. Typically, we would want to see something that is being put--

[18:27] I don't know if I want to make a big deal about it, but-

[18:30] No

[18:30] ... I mean, it is in one of our parks and-

[18:32] It's a price, but we're lucky Hope's fitting us in.

[18:35] I would think we should just move forward.

[18:37] No, that's it.

[18:37] And we do know what Hope more or less looks like.

[18:40] It will be bright, because it's Hope.

[18:41] Well, and that concerns me personally.

[18:44] Well, it's also flat.

[18:46] Yeah, I understand. Look-

[18:48] Jellyfish

[18:48] ... we're going to-

[18:49] Okay.

[18:51] I hear you. I'm just trying to slide past it.

[18:58] Okay.

[18:59] Any comments from council to add to-- I love living in the ambiguity.

[19:06] It's a surprise.

[19:07] Did you say jellyfish?

[19:09] It's going to be right in the area of more jellyfish.

[19:11] Which is a sculpture-

[19:13] Oh, okay

[19:13] ... there.

[19:14] So there's no jellyfish then.

[19:15] No. Well, the sturgeon went away, and the jellyfish came in.

[19:19] The sculpture is a jellyfish.

[19:20] I was thinking shad would be more appropriate for the-

[19:23] We don't have any shad sculptures. I'm sorry.

[19:25] No, for the mural. I thought you were saying the mural on the grate was going to be

[19:28] jellyfish.

[19:29] No, the mural is going to be fishy of some sort.

[19:32] But I think it's going to be, we don't know what kind.

[19:36] Fish of some sort.

[19:36] It's going to be Hope's fish.

[19:37] Leave it at the ambiguity.

[19:39] Thank you.

[19:40] The

[19:47] fee for this mural is $1,650, which includes

[19:52] materials, so that's part of the discussion tonight.

[19:57] Any other comments from council? Yes, Ed.

[20:06] Are they going-- Ed Duffy, 231 Way, New Hope.

[20:11] Are they going to present whatever this thing is before you and get approval?

[20:16] Or are you just going to go blind faith?

[20:20] I think for something like this, and based on what I'm hearing, I think we can

[20:27] take a shot here. I mean, that-

[20:29] A mural. Isn't a mural what you're supposed to see, not here?

[20:33] It's a sewer grate, basically. It's a-

[20:37] It's a sewer cover

[20:37] ... it's a sewer cover in the-

[20:39] What are they going to put on it, though?

[20:41] It's going to be painted.

[20:43] Just painted?

[20:44] Just painted. Yeah. No-

[20:45] Really cool.

[20:47] Really cool on that.

[20:48] No statement. No type of statement.

[20:50] No statements.

[20:51] We've already got a statement, okay. You know what I mean.

[20:54] Okay.

[20:55] Thank you very much.

[20:56] Thank you.

[20:57] All right.

[21:00] Did we approve that? No, we didn't.

[21:03] It's still under public comment.

[21:04] We're still in public comment. Anybody else have a comment?

[21:08] Got thrown off the scent, you see.

[21:12] Okay. Nothing more from the public. Yeah, just to Jay.

[21:16] Chief, just to add a little levity to this whole situation, is it going to be

[21:21] painted in place, or are they going to take the sewer grate back to the--

[21:26] Okay, just thinking.

[21:29] Take it away for a day. Have somebody watch over the hole.

[21:34] For those who don't like it, it's on the ground. You can look over it.

[21:38] Will we be able to watch it being painted?

[21:41] No paparas.

[21:42] I think

[21:45] it was primed maybe yesterday.

[21:48] Any public-

[21:50] I think a sketch is going on maybe

[21:53] Okay

[21:53] I wasn't down there. If somebody gets eyes on it, call around.

[21:58] Yeah.

[21:58] Just, I'm waiting for-- It was supposed to be this week. It's okay.

[22:02] I don't disagree. Yeah.

[22:05] Okay. Let me know. We're going to self-acknowledge breach of absolute protocol.

[22:10] We are going to take a vote. All in favor?

[22:14] Aye.

[22:16] Aye.

[22:18] Next up is the certificate of appropriateness 357 West Bridge,

[22:24] demolition of existing and addition and front porch. Can I have a motion?

[22:29] I'll make that motion.

[22:30] Okay, we're going to punt over to our solicitor

[22:36] for-

[22:39] I'm going to address this from the podium. May I ask Maslo, Mr.

[22:42] Fay to come forward?

[22:45] Council met in executive session, consistent with the Yanacono case, to be informed

[22:51] of the legal issue of HARB issuing a tie vote, which

[22:57] was not a recommendation in regard to this request or application for certificate

[23:01] of appropriateness for this property.

[23:04] So we discussed the ramifications of that tie vote.

[23:08] There were two issues that were unresolved before HARB.

[23:13] Having read the HARB chair, Jay Frio's memo to council, and also having read the

[23:18] minutes of the August 4 HARB meeting carefully.

[23:22] The two issues that remained were the roofing material, the existing is

[23:27] asphalt. What was discussed by and among the owner, Mr.

[23:32] Maslo, and HARB members were three historical materials, one being the existing

[23:37] asphalt, second being a standing seam metal roof, third being a simulated

[23:43] slate roof.

[23:46] Original slate or actual slate was also discussed, but it was not vetted because

[23:50] there was no examination or consideration of the weight of original slate on this

[23:55] particular structure.

[23:58] So in regard to the second issue, which was massing,

[24:04] M-A-S-S-I-N-G, that was also not voted upon by the HARB members.

[24:10] It was brought up after the motion was presented by the HARB chair.

[24:15] And so it was not actually part of any recommendation or

[24:21] discussion per se.

[24:25] So I made a recommendation to council, which Mr. Maslo and Mr.

[24:30] Fay are agreeable to, and I'll summarize it as follows, and I'll ask Mr.

[24:36] Maslo to confirm. Maslo.

[24:40] All right.

[24:42] First is that during the August 4 HARB session, HARB members, led by Mr.

[24:47] Frio and Mr. Maslo,

[24:51] did I get it right? Did reach a consensus on certain aspects of the proposed

[24:57] structure, including windows,

[25:00] railings,

[25:02] light fixtures, and siding. I asked Mr.

[25:05] Maslo this evening if, consistent with the confirmed transcript and discussions on

[25:11] those subjects, does he continue to affirm his willingness to abide by what was

[25:16] discussed at the August 4 HARB meeting, and his answer was okay.

[25:22] The second issue was, I conveyed to Mr.

[25:26] Maslo that council prefers standing seam metal roof to replace the

[25:31] existing asphalt roof and to be also involved in any additional roofing for

[25:37] additions or anything else that's going to be part of this new structure. And Mr.

[25:41] Maslo agreed. Okay.

[25:46] The third is that with regard to the massing and with regard to what

[25:52] is presented to be partial demolition of the existing structure, retaining the

[25:57] historic materials and removing non-historic materials, I recommended,

[26:04] rather than council considering remanding the massing issue back to HARB,

[26:10] that Mr. Maslo consider meeting with staff members, myself, our engineer, and

[26:16] our manager in short order, as early as next week,

[26:21] to discuss their proposed demolition and their proposed

[26:26] redesign of the structure,

[26:30] recognizing that council has a reservation about massing based on the record to

[26:35] date. Mr. Maslo agreed to that. And then that

[26:41] process will include a second meeting, which will

[26:46] include two or three council members, so you have the opportunity to hear the

[26:51] discussion firsthand. And then that will be reported at the September council

[26:57] meeting,

[26:59] including a potential resolution proposal that would result in your being presented

[27:05] a certificate of appropriateness for your review and consideration to approve.

[27:11] And Mr. Maslo agreed to that process, and Mr. Fay also agreed.

[27:15] Let me add for this understanding that Mr.

[27:18] Maslo is represented by Andrew Griffin, attorney. I spoke to Andrew this morning.

[27:23] I tried to reach him this evening, but I know he's solicitor for another borough in

[27:27] the county and unavailable. So I told Mr. Fay and Mr.

[27:31] Maslo I will call Andrew directly tomorrow morning, fill him in on this, and

[27:34] they're comfortable with that discussion between the three of us.

[27:39] The third issue, or the fourth issue I should say is, we really want to know and

[27:45] have explained to us the size and the configuration of the new design.

[27:50] So that's part of the agenda to be discussed in addition to the demolition process.

[27:55] And as you know, if a certificate of appropriateness was approved as requested for

[28:00] a partial demolition, no work could begin until council approved the plan of

[28:05] demolition and approved the plan of redesign and reconstruction.

[28:09] So those are topics that will be addressed informally, but also presented in public

[28:14] session in September. The last issue was the basement, which shows in the new

[28:20] plan. So the basement is not prohibited under borough ordinances, but the use is

[28:26] something to be discussed and vetted with Mr. Mazzo and Mr. Fay.

[28:31] So they're the issues that I think are pertinent to this resolution.

[28:35] And based upon Mr. Mazzo's agreement to this administrative process,

[28:42] the agenda item will be deferred and tabled until September.

[28:46] Is that all acceptable? Okay. And I think you would need a motion to table this

[28:51] based on that recitation of the proposed administrative process.

[28:56] I'd like to make a motion that in light of that description of events that will

[29:02] occur, that we

[29:05] table this motion.

[29:08] Table the motion of-

[29:11] Consideration of the HARB project memo and trying to address the tie

[29:17] vote by HARB.

[29:18] Right. Okay.

[29:20] Is there a second?

[29:22] I second the motion, yeah. Then we discuss it all.

[29:25] Well, do we have discussion here?

[29:27] Just want to clarify for myself and everybody, I understand, but, so the point

[29:33] is, just in brief, we'll talk, if council doesn't, and council and the developers

[29:38] don't come to a meeting of the minds, then this process continues through HARB or

[29:43] something.

[29:44] Correct.

[29:44] Is that right? Yeah.

[29:45] When we get to September, you have all your options available to you, which may

[29:49] include remanding it back to HARB.

[29:51] Okay.

[29:51] Which may include just taking the initiative of granting or denying a certificate

[29:56] of appropriateness, but understand under the HARB ordinance, if council were to

[30:00] deny the certificate application, you'd have to explain to the applicant what

[30:06] conditions he could adopt that you would approve.

[30:08] Yeah, right.

[30:09] So that really is the logic behind informally sitting down and talking, and

[30:14] meeting, and understanding whether there's a compromise or resolution that could be

[30:19] developed.

[30:20] Okay. And John, just to confirm, as part of that discussion, the

[30:26] removal of the non-historic portions will be discussed, the methods for how-

[30:30] Correct

[30:30] ... potentially that's done. Okay.

[30:32] As you know, when we talked about 810 Waterloo-

[30:34] Yeah

[30:34] ... I described that process as peeling the onion.

[30:37] So we want to know not only what non-historic remnants are going to be removed,

[30:43] but how are they going to preserve the historic remnants in place, and just

[30:49] exactly what is the sequence of operations as we've discussed with-

[30:53] Okay

[30:53] ... 810 Waterloo.

[30:54] And that will be part of discussion, this whole preface. Okay.

[30:57] Okay.

[30:57] Thank you.

[30:57] Again, hearing all that, is that acceptable?

[31:00] Thank you. Well done.

[31:01] Thank you.

[31:02] Yeah.

[31:02] Thank you.

[31:03] Thank you. Okay, any additional comments from council?

[31:07] Yeah. I think we are all looking forward to those buildings being brought back

[31:11] into their historic--

[31:15] Being a wonderful addition to West Bridge Street compared to the state they've been

[31:20] in for the past few years. So we are looking for a way forward there, but

[31:25] maintaining the historical integrity of town, as I'm sure the applicants are aware,

[31:30] you've been around here long enough. So I appreciate the ideas.

[31:33] Hope to work together to find a solution that the council can live with, since HARB

[31:38] was deadlocked, and be able to find a way forward to bring these back to

[31:43] make them shine again. So thank you.

[31:45] And though I may get boos-

[31:48] Since you're not making a decision tonight, you're not obligated to hear public

[31:52] comment, but you certainly can opt to hear public comment.

[31:55] Okay.

[31:56] Okay.

[31:57] For sure.

[31:58] I have nothing to fear here.

[32:01] Thank you.

[32:02] If there's no other comments from council, I don't know if there is. Okay.

[32:08] John, nice job there in terms of framing that for our benefit.

[32:13] Any public comment? Yeah.

[32:22] I appreciate everybody being willing to work together.

[32:25] I appreciate how hard HARB

[32:28] sought to find a solution and just, this is a difficult piece. It's a former home.

[32:35] HARB has some options to say what kind of roof, but it's a former home.

[32:39] It's probably the most expensive way to do it, the former home.

[32:43] So there's all sorts of issues, but one of the things I wanted to say is

[32:48] we've made so many mistakes over the last decade or two in terms of not following

[32:52] our own guidelines,

[32:55] and this is a moment where we can consider massing, where because of

[33:00] previous massive massing,

[33:04] we've left ourselves a narrow route.

[33:06] So I'd love a lot of attention to go into this, and I appreciate your willing to do

[33:10] it, and I appreciate Mr. Mass is willing to do it.

[33:13] But this is serious stuff that we have just-

[33:17] Mm-hmm

[33:17] ... blown up our town. And as Laurie mentioned before, we went and had a block that

[33:22] has no long, big lawn, no gardens in the back, no anything.

[33:27] And we have a chance to preserve a tiny bit, and that's what that foundation of the

[33:32] wildlife habitat, the bird town, and the tree city is about.

[33:37] Thank you. Any other comments? Okay.

[33:42] All in favor?

[33:43] Aye.

[33:45] Okay.

[33:48] Next up is the approval of meeting minutes,

[33:54] July 21st, 2026. Borough council meeting.

[33:58] Can I have a motion to approve the minutes?

[34:01] I'll make that motion.

[34:02] I'll second. All in favor?

[34:04] Aye.

[34:06] Approval of accounts payable. Accounts payable for August in the amount of

[34:10] $237,689.86.

[34:16] Also, payrolls for July 24th 2026 and August 7th

[34:22] 2026 in the amount of

[34:24] $103,633.87 and

[34:30] $124,540.18. Can I have a motion to

[34:36] approve those accounts payable?

[34:38] I'll make that motion.

[34:40] I'll second.

[34:41] All in favor?

[34:43] Aye.

[34:44] Okay. Finance committee, we met, was it

[34:50] today?

[34:50] Today.

[34:53] We met today.

[34:54] Been a long day.

[34:55] We went over the numbers and there

[35:00] were

[35:03] no meaningful anomalies and consistent with last year on all major revenue

[35:09] and expense items. We're just beginning to prepare for budget

[35:16] season, which will be in full swing in the next four or five weeks, but

[35:22] it's getting started right now. And we're fortunate we have Dave, our interim

[35:28] borough manager here helping guide us through a very pivotal moment in

[35:33] time. It's the summer, and

[35:39] you should only know how valuable it was that we were able to get Dave in here and

[35:45] make a difference in a lot of areas. So it's really been great.

[35:52] And more specifically, all of the numbers are on the website,

[35:58] so you're free to take a look at it, question anything that you

[36:04] have any interest in, and we'll be certain to communicate with you about it.

[36:10] Next is a HARB report.

[36:13] HARB met on August 4th and had four formal

[36:19] reviews. 9 East Bridge Street,

[36:23] 357 West Bridge Street,

[36:27] and 4 East Mechanic Street, the Beast Bar, and

[36:32] 719 West Mechanic Street, the Dancing Elephant.

[36:38] Okay, thank you.

[36:41] Zoning.

[36:43] So there was no meeting, but we do have one scheduled for September 10th.

[36:50] Planning. Well, maybe we'll have-

[36:55] Eric, I think-

[36:56] Oh, Eric, you're going to do it. You're taking over. Okay, good. Thank you.

[37:00] So that was last night.

[37:03] Other than the minutes and some other daily reporting, there was a review of a

[37:08] preliminary subdivision application for 105 North Main Street, and that was vetted

[37:14] quite well by the committee.

[37:18] I guess where it stands right now is Lisa sent plans to the DCNR and for

[37:24] review, and we're really waiting for a response from them.

[37:29] We do not have a timeline for that, though.

[37:32] Okay.

[37:33] And

[37:34] there was a discussion on short-term rental ordinance as well.

[37:40] Okay. Yeah. Next is the Planning Commission Comp Plan.

[37:45] Sure. So the Comp Plan Committee met with Bucks County Planning Commission last

[37:50] week, where we have now a full draft of the comprehensive plan to

[37:55] review. So we did feedback on,

[38:00] one, updating the pictures. There were some photos in there of Mother's Restaurant

[38:04] and The Dubliner, and it's just poking old wounds.

[38:07] So little things like that, but also I think it was a very good

[38:13] overview of where we are. It summarized the past year and a half of

[38:18] feedback and input from the community and from our local businesses, which I think

[38:22] was very important. And then also, the newest addition that we saw was the action

[38:26] plan, which is how do we implement this at each stage.

[38:29] So,

[38:31] some discussion about that, digesting how this is going to work.

[38:35] Members of the Planning Commission, as well as Council, have been invited to submit

[38:40] their edits and comments to incorporate into a next draft.

[38:45] That will be presented to Council once that's complete, and then there will be a

[38:50] public meeting, again, open to the general public, to engage with the comprehensive

[38:55] plan and provide their feedback on where it is before it goes through the process

[39:01] of getting formally adopted and approved.

[39:03] So we continue to move along, and hopefully there will be a version of this for the

[39:08] public to review as well in the next probably couple of months, as well as a public

[39:13] workshop where they present how this works.

[39:15] I think the implementable aspect of the plan really helps make this more than just

[39:20] a document that sits on a shelf, but it gives actual instruction for concrete not

[39:25] only types of things we can do, be it update ordinances, build relationships, seek

[39:29] grants, but also it gives ownership of who would take the lead on those aspects.

[39:34] Which I think really helps provide a roadmap or a to-do list for us to take the

[39:40] ideas and feedback and actually implement them over the next...

[39:44] It's the bridge to 2035, so it's not going to be done overnight, but it gives us a

[39:48] to-do list of things that we can be working on.

[39:52] Okay.

[39:55] Next up is Green Initiative.

[39:57] Green Initiative. So Ken and I hosted the potential bidders for the Green

[40:03] Initiative. We did a walkthrough of the sites on August 5th, I believe it was.

[40:07] It was extremely well-attended. We had 25, 30-ish people representing probably

[40:13] about 18 or so firms who potentially would provide bids for the open RFP.

[40:19] The RFP closes this Friday, the 21st.

[40:23] I thought it was the 24th, but-

[40:24] 21st.

[40:25] Oh, okay.

[40:25] 21st. And we've had some already to complete, and then there's a bunch more that

[40:30] are actually in process. So we'll see how many proposals we get at the end of the

[40:35] week, and then those proposals will be given to the Green Space Committee for

[40:41] review, and then we'll schedule from there.

[40:43] So you'll be hearing a lot more about it. We're pretty excited.

[40:45] A lot of great feedback from the folks who walked around town with us that it's an

[40:51] exciting initiative, and we're excited to see this hopefully come to fruition.

[40:55] And as it gets developed and everything-

[40:57] Yeah

[40:57] ... we'll have a couple workshops.

[40:59] We'll start framing out some options and things that we want

[41:04] complete input from the public. We have a very diverse

[41:10] committee. But we want to expand it, and we want to get everybody in the community

[41:15] really excited about this.

[41:18] And it really ties in with so many of the efforts that really seem to really

[41:22] resonate with people as it relates to the comprehensive plan, and it just all comes

[41:27] together and dovetails really nicely-

[41:29] Yeah

[41:29] ... with what we want to

[41:33] be-

[41:33] Yeah

[41:33] ... and what we want to do. So it's great.

[41:37] And Joe, EAC.

[41:39] So the EAC met on August 5th, and primarily we discussed things like the Bird Town,

[41:45] which I think is a great small step that we're taking to preserve what we

[41:50] do have in town. So I do think that that's just one small bit in that, so I think

[41:54] that was good. We also discussed the glass recycling just

[42:00] to see where the procedures are, and the questionnaires should've been sent to us.

[42:05] Did anyone-

[42:06] Yeah.

[42:08] Dave will be able to comment briefly on that.

[42:11] Okay.

[42:12] It might not be exactly what you guys are looking for, but it will

[42:17] keep the thing moving.

[42:18] I think it's just the guidance that they need. Yeah.

[42:20] Yeah. So I think he'll be commenting on that.

[42:22] Okay. The other thing that did come up was that there is the battery bucket that is

[42:25] at the New Hope Library, and just wondering about the process in terms of

[42:34] is it budgeted in the administrative process for getting that new bucket each time

[42:37] it's filled up. That was just something that came up, and I think that John had

[42:41] emailed about that. I'm not sure. Did he email you, Dave?

[42:48] Say that again.

[42:48] Did John email you about the battery bucket?

[42:52] Battery bucket was replaced, yes.

[42:54] Okay.

[42:54] No, thank you.

[42:55] All right, thanks.

[42:56] I think that was in the last council update that I gave you.

[42:58] Yeah.

[42:59] Yeah.

[43:00] On Friday it was at the library. Yeah.

[43:02] Yeah. Okay. All right. Thank you. Okay, we have

[43:08] manager's report. Just a couple of things tonight.

[43:11] First,

[43:13] as you move forward with your manager search, I think council needs to acknowledge

[43:18] the engagement of Minor Center to do that particular activity.

[43:23] So we need a motion to that effect.

[43:26] I'd like to make that motion.

[43:28] I'll second.

[43:30] All in favor?

[43:31] Aye.

[43:32] Aye.

[43:34] Second thing I have is,

[43:38] your council's aware that we replaced one of our police vehicles, and we'd like to

[43:43] put the used vehicle on Municipal to dispose of it, so I'd like council's

[43:49] permission to do that.

[43:51] I'd like to make a motion to advertise the Ford Taurus on Municipal.

[43:56] Second that motion.

[43:59] All in favor?

[44:00] Aye.

[44:03] And going back to EAC project, I've been spending some time looking

[44:09] over their consideration of the glass recycling effort that they seem to want to

[44:14] do. I have some concerns regarding the implementation and the

[44:19] use of public works, how that would exactly work.

[44:23] Because we do not have

[44:27] trash collection borough-wide, I think there's some complications that I'm just

[44:31] concerned about. So I'm asking council to just be patient and work with

[44:37] EAC a little bit further. I don't think it's quite ready for your action yet.

[44:42] And Dave-

[44:42] That's my recommendation

[44:43] ... will you be providing feedback to the EAC on your concerns?

[44:48] Yes.

[44:48] Yes. Okay.

[44:49] Yes.

[44:49] I think, yeah. I think another workshop for this once

[44:55] it's been described where it's not ready for prime time, and maybe they

[45:01] can speak to that, and we were better versed on what...

[45:06] Because I think what was prepared for us when the... I forget.

[45:10] Who was here who made the presentation?

[45:11] Matt was here.

[45:12] Yeah, Matt was here. Yeah, I'm just ultimately concerned about the ultimate

[45:15] feasibility.

[45:16] Yeah. I think they were making-

[45:18] And be worthwhile.

[45:21] So just for the public's benefit, and as a former EAC liaison, I know this was a

[45:26] discussion. We don't have municipal-wide trash collection,

[45:32] and the recycling, while it is offered by many of our independent providers, I

[45:38] think there's concern with single-stream recycling.

[45:41] The evidence points to a lot of that single-stream recycle, what you put in the

[45:44] giant everything goes recycle bin, doesn't always end up getting recycled.

[45:49] Glass in particular is well known for if it is segregated and

[45:55] glass-only collection actually has a very high rate of cont- ...

[45:59] successful recycling. So, by offering that service or exploring offering it, and

[46:05] they're not making a specific proposal, but we want to figure out how we might be

[46:09] able to capture this.

[46:11] For especially a lot of the businesses on Main Street, beer bottles, wine bottles,

[46:16] other bottles. Seems like a very meaningful way to reduce the trash

[46:22] load and effectively increase the amount of recycling that's taking place in New

[46:26] Hope, while also offering a benefit to the restaurants, because that means they can

[46:32] pay less for their regular trash collection, and perhaps figure out a way to divert

[46:36] more recyclable materials away from our landfills and to productive use.

[46:42] I also put as a note that I would love to see a way for residents to be able to

[46:45] drop off our glass as well, to just reduce trash as much as we can.

[46:51] So, that's why glass recycling in New Hope is a place that we're start-- Well, we

[46:55] started with the battery bucket, which has been extremely successful.

[46:58] Mm-hmm.

[46:58] And so now, what else can we recycle and divert from landfills?

[47:02] So, I think we can try and figure out a way.

[47:04] So thanks, Dave, for doing the work to figure out how to get this idea into action.

[47:08] We know it's easier said than done, so-

[47:10] Thank you

[47:10] ... we'll figure it out.

[47:14] And the last thing that I have under my report is actually just an update.

[47:18] MS4 is stormwater management, and basically we have to update our

[47:24] report on a biannual basis, and I want council to know that we have submitted

[47:30] the updated report to DEP, and they've acknowledged receiving that report.

[47:34] So, we're current and up to date.

[47:36] Okay, good. Thank you.

[47:37] Thank you.

[47:37] That's great. Solicitor's report?

[47:39] That concludes my report.

[47:40] Thank you.

[47:41] Yep.

[47:50] Members of council, before you is a proposal

[47:55] to approve the settlement agreement and release that has been

[48:01] agreed to in principle by the borough and the

[48:07] Landing Property LLC and Black Dog Construction, which is a fictitious name for an

[48:12] entity known as Salt & Pepper Group LP.

[48:16] This has to do with three notices of violation that were issued

[48:22] in January and March of 2026, that involved properties

[48:28] at 22 North Main and 36 North Main that involved

[48:33] violations of the borough zoning ordinance, property maintenance code, and the

[48:39] historic architectural review board ordinance pertaining to the

[48:44] unauthorized use of the patio at the Landing during their grand opening without

[48:50] a property, the placement of fencing without approvals from

[48:56] either zoning or HARB, and also the

[49:01] gathering of construction materials that had been, for lack of a better term,

[49:06] littered some of the areas of the property.

[49:09] Ultimately, the parties entered into negotiations and have agreed to

[49:14] tentatively agree to the owners of the property

[49:19] paying $10,000 as a compromise of the overall resolution

[49:25] of the litigation. All of the matters that had been set forth in the notices of

[49:31] violation have been resolved. The fencing has been removed, the property has been

[49:37] cleared, and the appropriate approvals for the use of the patio have been

[49:42] achieved. So, the members of Landing Property and also

[49:49] Salt and Pepper have signed the settlement agreement and release, and I have it

[49:54] available for execution on behalf of the borough if the borough so approves.

[49:59] Thank you.

[50:03] So I'm going to say, can we have a motion to approve the

[50:08] settlement of New Hope Borough and the Landing Property LLC?

[50:14] I'll make that motion.

[50:16] I'll second it.

[50:18] Any comments from council?

[50:21] Public? All in favor?

[50:24] Aye.

[50:27] Can we have a motion to approve?

[50:34] Okay.

[50:36] Do we need to remake the motion?

[50:37] Do we have to remake the motion or-

[50:40] I make the motion as necessary for the document.

[50:44] Okay, so say that again.

[50:45] So, motion to approve the draft settlement agreement and release that has been

[50:50] pre-signed by the property owner, authorization for your president and

[50:56] your manager to sign that document on behalf of the borough.

[50:59] Well, and I mean-

[51:01] I'll make that motion. Well, I'll second that motion.

[51:04] Okay, all in favor?

[51:06] Aye.

[51:07] Thank you.

[51:08] Thank you, John.

[51:09] Okay, public comment.

[51:13] Yes.

[51:19] John Volpe, my wife and I, Mary, live at 263 North Main Street.

[51:24] Could you just move a little bit closer to that? Thank you.

[51:27] Sure. I'm sorry. I don't want to waste the board's time.

[51:30] My wife had called you earlier about our issue.

[51:35] The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is apparently notifying

[51:41] certain homeowners

[51:44] that they want steps removed from the inclines behind their homes.

[51:51] Some of these steps, like ours, have been there for 75 years.

[51:56] Apparently investigating this, and now my wife and I had to hire an

[52:01] attorney. This has been a debatable point, probably for about 100 years, as to who

[52:07] owns these inclines.

[52:11] I just wanted to ask the board, and Chief,

[52:15] in case somebody from this department would show up and attempt

[52:21] to remove the steps,

[52:24] can I call the police and have them removed?

[52:28] Because my deed to my home, my wife's home, says that we own the incline.

[52:34] And our attorney is dealing with them right now, but

[52:40] I do not want them, nor does my wife, to remove these steps.

[52:43] They've been there for 75 years. So, I just wanted to get your

[52:49] opinion. I don't want to create any problems for anybody.

[52:53] But if they do show up, which they have threatened to do,

[52:58] can I call the police?

[53:01] I don't think we can offer a legal opinion on that.

[53:04] I mean-

[53:06] I think the issue is whether the steps are on property owned by DCNR

[53:12] or on land that has been granted easement rights to

[53:17] DCNR. I actually spoke to Mr. Murphy this morning on this issue.

[53:22] Ed Murphy, that's your counsel, correct?

[53:24] Correct.

[53:25] Yeah. So, he's in touch with DCNR. Or I recommended that he do so, and

[53:31] I will call Mr. Murphy tomorrow, and I will recommend that DCNR

[53:38] be advised not to come onto your property. I don't really believe they will.

[53:43] I think that's a trespass. And I'll say this on the record for your benefit,

[53:49] that it's one thing to say the steps are on their property, it's another to cross

[53:54] your land to get to those steps. So, they can't do that.

[53:57] Okay.

[53:58] And I'll confer with Mr. Murphy on that issue.

[54:01] I appreciate it, Chief. Thank you so much.

[54:06] Yes. Yes, sir.

[54:08] Yeah, Ed. Yeah.

[54:19] Ed Duffy, New Hope, 23 Oden Way, Village Two.

[54:26] About the recycling.

[54:28] We up in Village Two started recycling maybe 20 years ago, and we

[54:34] went through different iterations of recycling.

[54:40] And we tried glass. We did that for a while. That didn't work out.

[54:45] We evolved through different iterations to the most valuable thing is

[54:51] cardboard. You could actually make money on that.

[54:55] If you could splice that out of the public, you can make money, get

[55:00] money for different causes, nonprofits and stuff like that.

[55:05] And we're doing that today. We

[55:08] recycle the cardboard, and the rest of we

[55:13] Just throw into a large bin. So that's what's happening, and

[55:19] I think maybe the borough manager could talk to the property manager and

[55:25] learn a lot of stuff, because he's

[55:28] going through a lot of different iterations of recycling.

[55:32] So this is just a public comment. Okay?

[55:36] Okay.

[55:39] That's it. Thank you very much.

[55:40] Thanks.

[55:46] Okay.

[55:52] In response to what Mr. Volpe said, it would be very interesting to know what the

[55:56] facts are. We've been told that DCNR owns our back

[56:03] berm, whatever it is,

[56:06] towpath bank.

[56:09] And they have said they are going to take trees down on our property.

[56:13] And Steve, staff at the borough, have been working hard to try to move this

[56:18] forward, and I think I'm going on a year, and a couple of trees can crash into the

[56:23] house at any moment. So on the one hand, they own the property.

[56:26] On the other hand, they can't get anything done.

[56:29] So it's difficult, and I understand all the reasons why they are backed up and

[56:34] whatever, but they could come on the towpath and drag the steps from the top.

[56:41] So it would be worth finding out whether there were ever official easements, what

[56:46] the heck they're doing. Because they're claiming it, I've assumed they know what

[56:50] they're saying. On the other hand, we were told, "Don't plant anything, don't do

[56:54] anything," even though we wanted to put native plants on it.

[56:57] It's like nothing's happening, and they're not taking dangerous trees down.

[57:01] But they've had people out twice. So it's something that needs to be addressed.

[57:06] And I know people are trying, but that's not enough, especially when you hear

[57:11] things like this happening. And as far as the glass recycling,

[57:17] I just wanted to point out we were simply, as the EAC, trying to get a

[57:23] sense of whether anybody was interested.

[57:26] Not about whether we move forward, whether we go out saying we're just asking some

[57:30] questions, and that was just the first step.

[57:33] As far as feasibility, there's a zillion issues, for sure, agreed.

[57:37] But one of them is the school used to have, not this, but some sort of recycling

[57:42] bins, and we might be able to negotiate with them, and then it's a question of who

[57:46] puts it there and there's so many steps along the way.

[57:49] This was just meant to be the first step to see if anybody even wanted it before we

[57:54] went ahead. So I just wanted to make it clear that we weren't gung-ho thinking we

[57:59] could jump right into this.

[58:01] I'm glad you made that point because we were reluctant to be hard-nosed about the

[58:06] whole thing. It just seemed like it needed to be developed a little bit more and

[58:13] be juiced up a little bit and say, "Look, if we do this," some investigation with

[58:17] some restaurants, and do they have an interest in it?

[58:22] Well, that's all we were really going for the bars and restaurants-

[58:26] Right

[58:27] ... who have the most glass recycling to ask, "Are you interested at all?" And so

[58:32] maybe we should be showing you the letter that would go out that shows how this is

[58:37] a tiny first step.

[58:38] I think that-

[58:39] And that might help. Because we were not expecting to move quickly on this.

[58:43] We were expecting to start exploring if there was enough interest.

[58:47] We didn't want to do masses if nobody is willing to even think about it.

[58:51] That's great.

[58:52] Yeah. Thank you.

[58:52] All right. No, thank you. Any other comments from the public?

[58:59] Okay. Meeting is adjourned.

New Hope Borough Council Meeting - August 18, 2026

Agenda

Transcript