[0:00] My life.
[0:13] Yeah, I do.
[0:19] » I'm good.
>> Yep.
[0:21] » All right. Good evening, everyone. If
you please join me as we do the Pledge
[0:25] of Allegiance followed by a moment of
silence by my friend Larry.
[0:29] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America.
[0:33] And to the republic for which it stands,
one nation under God,
[0:42] And we'll all
keep standing for a few minutes for a
[0:45] moment of silence in respect and
appreciation for first responders and
[0:50] people who put themselves on the line
for us.
[1:02] Thank you.
[1:07] All right. Good evening, everyone. Happy
Tuesday. Thank you for being here. I'll
[1:11] go ahead and call this meeting to order.
Um
[1:14] This meeting's being recorded via Zoom
and it will be uploaded later to the
[1:19] township's YouTube channel for
reviewing. Also, for after there's a
[1:22] nice public meeting, the board may meet
in executive session to discuss legal
[1:26] matters.
Uh at this point, um for chairman's
[1:29] report, I have nothing. Uh for public
comment, I'm going to go ahead and open
[1:32] up the mic for anyone to discuss
anything that's not on the agenda.
[1:37] And I'll give uh privilege to those who
are in the room first before I move to
[1:40] the Zoom room.
Anyone with public comment as it
[1:43] pertains to non-agenda items?
[1:50] Uh
I don't know if the individual is going
[1:51] to be too. We'll go with that.
[1:55] » Recently, uh sorry. My name's Matthew
Scotion. This time I was talking to you.
[1:59] park and I noticed
that the trees are overgrown, the leaves
[2:04] are coming out in the path. How often do
you get that cleaned up? Can you pick
[2:07] that up?
>> Which park?
[2:09] » Uh the Apple Grove side of the park.
>> Um
[2:14] » Just cuz I had a grandson recently and I
took him out for a long walk and there
[2:17] was trees all over and there was leaves.
>> Yeah, I would have to I mean, we were
[2:22] there fairly often. I mean, I I thought
you were talking about somewhere else.
[2:26] Um
if I can
[2:29] get your email, I can get a more If I
can get a more specific area,
[2:33] I can talk to public works and see if
they can go take a look at it.
[2:37] » Thank you.
>> Yeah, just take your photo up to the
[2:39] office. Did we get it over, Kevin?
Anyone else for non-agenda related items
[2:44] to the room? Anything in the Zoom room?
Okay, uh we have no emergency service
[2:50] reports tonight, no public hearings, no
finance report, no minutes to approve.
[2:55] Uh we have the treasurer's report,
Kelly.
[2:58] » This treasurer's report covers the
township's financial activity from
[3:01] August 13th through August 27th, 2026.
During this reporting period, the
[3:07] township's general fund continued to be
supported
[3:10] by several of our primary revenue
sources. These include earned income tax
[3:14] collections, rental income, permit and
alarm fees, interest earned upon
[3:19] maturity of CD investments,
park and recreation registration, and
[3:23] pavilion.
The general fund expenditures include
[3:26] vehicle maintenance and repairs, highway
materials, building maintenance and
[3:30] repairs, legal and engineering services,
park and recreation programs, events,
[3:35] and maintenance, insurance payments, and
other routine operating expenses.
[3:41] For the capital fund reserve,
expenditures totaled $496.50.
[3:46] This included engineering services. For
the infrastructure sustainability fund,
[3:52] expenditures totaled $1,914
and included pond treatment for Upper
[3:58] Third Street Pond, Mary Dell Pond, and
Pinewood Pond, as well as water sampling
[4:04] conducted in July.
Are there any questions regarding this
[4:07] Treasurer's report?
>> Okay.
[4:11] One comment that I wanted to make is
something that I've already
[4:14] emailed Kelly about, but I noticed when
going through this is there are a couple
[4:17] of large
what I could put kind of big ticket
[4:20] expenses
um that that jumped out at me that were
[4:24] like $11,000 plus bus services for the
um I guess mostly for parks and
[4:30] recreation. So, $11,000 for bus uh bus
services for um summer camp. There's
[4:37] $18,000, I think, for um for tennis
lessons. I asked Kelly, you know, I
[4:43] don't think I've seen
before. So, I wondered um I assumed
[4:48] those were seasonal and regular regular
and not unusual, and I also assumed
[4:53] that those are probably not
taxpayer covered expenses if they're
[4:57] covered by the parks and services fees
for the programs.
[5:00] And um and she confirmed that was the
that was the case. So, uh I just thought
[5:04] it was interesting that, you know,
relatively big number expenses jumped
[5:08] out that I that I'm thinking those were
not unusual and those are already
[5:13] covered by fees for programs and not by
the taxpayer.
[5:17] Thank you, Larry.
>> Tanner, are there any bills?
[5:20] » No
>> No.
[5:21] » Okay. Uh one thing to note, as well, uh
I forgot to mention at the top of the
[5:25] meeting is that Peter's unable to join
uh us tonight at the meeting due to a
[5:28] previous schedule um thanks.
Any questions in the room on paying the
[5:33] bills?
Questions in the Zoom room on the bills?
[5:36] I'd entertain a motion.
>> Mr. Chairman, I move that the board
[5:39] accept the receipts and approve the
expenditures as presented in the
[5:43] expenditure register and summarized in
the Treasurer's report.
[5:47] » I see.
Thank you, Anne. Thank you, Larry. Mr.
[5:49] Rowland, call motion. All in favor? I.
Motion carries 4-0.
[5:53] And Glenn, Kevin Miller got back to me.
Actually, he initiated a text and says
[5:58] the grass is cut weekly and heavy
trimming is quarterly.
[6:03] Okay.
Um
[6:05] we're going to go ahead and move down to
old business, which is the um
[6:10] comprehensive plan RFP draft two review
and possible passage. And before I turn
[6:14] it over to Derek, I want to commend him
for doing such a great draft.
[6:17] Um and appreciate his input and everyone
else who played a part in that.
[6:21] » Mhm.
[6:27] » Just trying to pull it up. Give me one
second here.
[6:38] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, this is
uh what I would call draft two of the
[6:44] comprehensive plan. I put together the
first draft. It was the July meeting, if
[6:50] I'm not mistaken. Everything's kind of
blending together. And
[6:53] um so, I I think that was it. But, um
based on some feedback I got, um
[7:00] I did tweak some things, but not much. A
lot of it was
[7:05] minor language changes just to clarify
more. I did
[7:09] fill out the community profile right
here. And I think that probably the
[7:13] biggest change I made was And you can
see it right there where it says,
[7:17] "Please see appendix A for zoning map
and breakdown."
[7:20] You know, I thought it would be helpful
for the people writing the RFP to have a
[7:24] copy of our map and what the zoning
districts look like so they can that can
[7:29] enhance their efforts to give us a
proper uh RFP. So, that was the biggest
[7:34] thing. I did uh have a
quick email exchange with Larry today.
[7:38] And And there's a section that says
something about fiscal analysis and just
[7:44] tweaking that a little bit to spell out
budget and revenues specific to the
[7:49] financial analysis, which I think is
fine. The more you can
[7:53] be a little bit more
in-depth with what you're asking for,
[7:56] the better. So, that would be the only
minor change I would make going forward
[8:01] after this, but
it's relatively similar to the July July
[8:05] meeting. Again, just for background, we
um
[8:10] are supposed to do a comprehensive plan
update every 10 years to just
[8:14] um guide the township along in in how
we're doing things from a land use
[8:18] perspective, um growing the township
responsibly,
[8:23] and making sure that we're doing what we
can to stay ahead of the game on that
[8:27] front.
Um
[8:30] there's not much more to say. I would I
would um
[8:33] entertain not entertain a motion, but I
would let the board
[8:36] comment, ask questions, as well as the
public, and then we can maybe make a
[8:39] motion.
>> I have comment and a question.
[8:44] First, the question, and that is
in past RFPs from the township,
[8:51] have has there been as extensive a
request
[8:56] for budgetary for the whole financial
side to this, so that really what we'll
[9:03] be looking at as a board and as a
community will be not a wish list of
[9:12] projects, but rather a real plan that's
costed out,
[9:18] and we will measure it accordingly.
>> Yeah, I mean, since
[9:23] I have not tackled anything specific to
what you're talking about since I've
[9:27] been here, this is probably the most
comprehensive RFP
[9:31] I've been a part of since I was at East
Goshen.
[9:35] I think this circles back a little bit
to the conversation we've been having
[9:38] this entire year about um tying land use
to the economic factors of that specific
[9:46] use, whatever that may use may be. Um
I did try to sprinkle in here some of
[9:52] the economic and financial components
based on the feedback I got from you and
[9:56] the board the whole year. Um
it may be something we whoever would
[10:02] so to speak win this um
bid uh at the end of the day,
[10:07] it may be good to have a conversation
with them and really hone in on
[10:12] whether that's something that can
completely be done in the comprehensive
[10:15] plan update or if there's
possibly a second RFP that has to go out
[10:20] in order to incorporate some more
financials based on maybe a firm that
[10:25] specializes in that sort of thing. So, I
think it remains to be seen, but I did
[10:29] try to put as much in I could um
for the financial piece of it.
[10:35] » Uh the comment I'd like to make, thank
you by the way. The the comment I'd like
[10:39] to make is that
I think this is really an excellent RFP.
[10:44] Uh it's probably
I on the one hand the fact that it's
[10:49] almost like reading an outline makes it
extremely
[10:54] understandable.
I I mean it was a pleasure to read
[10:58] through it and not feel like I was
having to have a translator sitting next
[11:03] to me telling me what it would say. Um
the other thing is that the fact that it
[11:09] has real
demonstrable measurements in terms of
[11:14] performance at the end in in in their
responses
[11:20] that you're asking that you've you've
created a scorecard
[11:25] so that we can really look at each RFP
in terms of how they actually what
[11:31] numeric value would we give to their
response on X or Y or Z
[11:38] I think is really exceptional.
>> Yeah, so I I can't take credit for that.
[11:43] I talked to this Phoenixville um borough
manager extensively on that front and um
[11:49] he
emailed me his scoring um
[11:53] component and I really liked it. So,
that's kind of why I put that in there.
[11:57] » You can take credit for reaching out to
the Phoenixville.
[12:00] Say, you're very gracious, Sarah. I
thought I I think you did your job
[12:03] superbly.
>> Thank you. Um so, just another note on
[12:07] the process from here because I know
that may be another question. I would
[12:11] get together um I would get together a
comprehensive list of
[12:16] what I would call qualified firms. Um I
do think it's not required, but I do
[12:21] think we should advertise it. I mean, I
don't think it could hurt if a firm or
[12:24] two sees it in an advertisement that
they otherwise would not, but I think
[12:29] the good thing is it's like a lot of
under other industries that we deal
[12:32] with. We know a lot of the players and
and who's around and um some of the
[12:37] firms that should be getting this. So, I
will give that list
[12:40] after this gets passed, whenever that
is, I'll give that list to the board. Um
[12:45] we also need to
come up with an internal committee to do
[12:49] the interviews.
Um and then
[12:52] I would love to have this picked by the
end of the year. I will tell you that.
[12:56] Um so, we can hit the ground running in
2027 before we
[13:00] open it up to the public in terms of an
ad hoc committee that we're going to
[13:03] have to
uh put in place, a steering committee,
[13:07] if you will. So, so, that's that's the
process for the rest of the year um once
[13:12] it
and I I would give the I probably would
[13:15] give the firms about 30 days. So, I'll
take feedback on the board for that if
[13:19] you think it should be less or more, but
I think that's probably the sweet spot
[13:23] [clears throat]
if we want to get
[13:25] good information. So,
>> One thing is that that occurred to me is
[13:29] that
we know that there's probably a stable
[13:32] of firms that specialize in
comprehensive plans and probably in this
[13:37] particular
area. But there are probably engineering
[13:42] firms that may may not always do
comprehensive plans that might that
[13:47] might, you know, have some of the skills
that be attracted in this. There are
[13:51] probably some
academicians, some some university
[13:55] professors that in a sense have these
skills or access to these skills. So
[14:00] there might be, in addition to the firms
that specialize in doing municipal
[14:04] comprehensive plans, there might be
other specialized kinds of professionals
[14:08] out there that might be able to respond
to this in a kind of creative way.
[14:12] » There's there's definitely a couple of
engineering firms already had in mind
[14:15] that are a little bit a little bit
bigger firms do
[14:20] some comprehensive planning, so I
already had that in mind. And then
[14:25] I also think, compared to 10 years ago
or, you know, 10 15 years ago, we're
[14:31] seeing a lot of more I would call them
boutique land use
[14:36] firms pop up and um I I've had some
conversation with Ben on other fronts
[14:42] and I think I think it's going to be a
more comprehensive list than if, you
[14:46] know, than the one 10 years ago in terms
of who we give the RFP to, simply
[14:51] because there's more of those type of
firms. So I think hopefully we can get
[14:54] some more
innovative solutions, if you will, based
[14:58] on the competition versus, you know, in
the past.
[15:01] » Right. So I think it's smart to to
advertise it.
[15:05] » Yeah.
>> Well, I I'd like to also mention that um
[15:09] I I read a very interesting article
today about
[15:15] um Meadville, Pennsylvania,
which is in western Pennsylvania, up
[15:20] toward Lake Erie.
And the article was really to do with
[15:25] where
what is a fabulous place to retire to in
[15:30] Pennsylvania.
And this is a town where all of the
[15:35] businesses in the town are owned by
neighbors,
[15:40] by the community, which has made it a
very
[15:43] much more uh has brought in income to
the town to sustain it very well.
[15:51] » I don't think they're facing
a data center.
[15:55] Um
>> I don't think Meadville
[15:58] is.
>> I thought I
[16:00] I thought I had read that a couple of
weeks ago.
[16:02] » I This This was not in this article in
any way. And what what they basically
[16:07] said, I mean, it's a town with a lot of
open space.
[16:11] Uh they are close to Lake Erie. They
have or have their own lake
[16:18] that is part of the natural environment
there.
[16:21] They have uh French Creek
runs through there, which we're familiar
[16:29] with as well.
Um lots of walking, lots of
[16:34] lots of
uh
[16:37] retention of old historic sites, that
kind of thing.
[16:42] Um and
most of the people who have moved there
[16:47] more And the article acknowledged that
probably the most they would not like
[16:52] the article to get out too far
because the retirees are actually mainly
[16:58] living on their social social security
because the housing costs are so much
[17:05] lower there.
But as I read it, what I realized was we
[17:11] are not the size of a Meadville.
But we certainly have some of the
[17:17] characteristics of an environment with a
lot of open space
[17:22] and a lot of um benefits to the
community.
[17:27] And my hope is that as we go through
this comprehensive planning process
[17:35] that we do look outward at some of the
model areas even if they don't
[17:43] apparently seem exactly like us.
To say what are the characteristics that
[17:50] are retaining the positive aspects of
these environments.
[17:55] And at the same time helping the
community to keep their costs down.
[18:03] The citizenry.
So I raised that because I read this
[18:07] article thinking what I mean my first
thought was who maybe I should move
[18:13] there.
There may be people in the room who
[18:17] would love to have me move there.
>> [laughter]
[18:21] » But but the fact of the matter is that
these are places that could be
[18:29] real
real places to explore
[18:33] of what what could we be like in 10
years
[18:38] and 20 years
um and retain the values of what we have
[18:44] here.
So I just like to comment on that cuz I
[18:47] just read it today.
>> Thanks Anne. We'll keep you in Chester
[18:51] County and that property is in the urban
any other comments from the board?
[18:56] I I just have one comment on the RFP
specific to
[19:00] to letter G.
It says provide at least five municipal
[19:04] references. Is it worth putting in there
specific number of them to be
[19:08] Pennsylvania related or uh
>> Yeah, I mean we can
[19:14] normally when we get references, you
know,
[19:18] Yeah, I guess and
you know, I feel like we dealt with this
[19:22] a little bit when we were doing the
police study of
[19:25] how much do you want to limit it because
there's in there could be firms that are
[19:30] a little bit more broad that
maybe in Jersey or Maryland and and
[19:34] would do a good job. Um but
understanding that they probably should
[19:38] have some kinds of experience. I mean, I
can say two at least two has to have
[19:43] Pennsylvania.
I do think a lot of the firms I'm going
[19:46] to reach out to have plenty of
Pennsylvania experience. Um but I can
[19:50] definitely tweak that to say minimum
two.
[19:53] » Okay, good. We know that Pennsylvania
requires its municipality to do
[19:59] comprehensive planning. We actually I
don't I don't don't know if that's true
[20:02] of New Jersey or the other
counties.
[20:06] But you bring up both for the police
chief search and then also for the WeGo
[20:10] study for staffing. We both
That's what That's what made me want to
[20:14] think about this if we wanted to include
some type of Pennsylvania I doubt I
[20:19] won't lose sleep over it, but one or two
the board is amenable to that.
[20:22] » Yes.
>> All right, one or two. Good.
[20:25] » Okay.
>> All right, I'll Before we go to public
[20:28] comment in the room, I'm going to
entertain a motion.
[20:31] If no other board members have any
comment, go ahead and entertain a motion
[20:33] met
Entertain a motion Oh my gosh, haven't
[20:37] eaten dinner, all right. Entertain a
motion to
[20:40] um the possible passage here for the RFP
to go to our next steps.
[20:43] » With with
with the additions discussed tonight.
[20:48] » I second.
>> Thank you, Lori. Thank you, Barbara.
[20:50] Uh I'll go ahead and entertain uh
comment in the room for anyone as it
[20:53] pertains to the RFP process or this RFP
specifically.
[20:58] If you just go ahead and state your name
if you're a New Scotland resident.
[21:03] » Mark Frank, East Goshen resident.
Um again, uh
[21:07] still have concerns about this plan.
Um, it has been done before, whether you
[21:12] guys like it or not, it was done 10 15
years ago and it failed
[21:16] uh recently because people showed up and
didn't want to partake wanting to
[21:21] approve it.
My thing is
[21:24] how much do you think this is going to
What do you guys envision as far as the
[21:27] total cost for this?
I mean, you have to have some kind of
[21:30] number. You ran on your campaign and
you're going to do a much better job
[21:34] than previous issues. So, you must have
some kind of
[21:37] idea of what you want to spend.
[21:42] » Oh, before we dive in here and get more
specifics on that, I think last year we
[21:46] had a Was it last year or this year?
Last year we approved a budget for this
[21:48] year to include $25,000 for
um Am I correct on that?
[21:53] » Yeah, I think we were
So, we were going to do
[21:57] 2020 or 25 this year and then we were
going to allot a certain amount next
[22:01] year, which I think was closer to like
That was preliminary discussions,
[22:06] obviously, cuz we didn't have to pass
the 2027 budget last year, but I think
[22:09] it was around I want to say it's around
the It was around $65,000 mark. So,
[22:14] we were planning on having this approach
probably six figures in terms of a
[22:20] comprehensive plan review, which
is kind of the norm um out there.
[22:27] » Now, does that include the total cost of
any of the improvements that you guys
[22:30] approved of?
>> No, that is That would be completely
[22:35] So, in that I would This would just be
for the comprehensive plan update. I
[22:39] mean, everything in the comprehensive
plan update is just a hypothetical until
[22:42] policies come about from the board.
>> So, you're saying what you're really are
[22:47] saying is you have no idea what's going
to end up being the final cost to
[22:51] everybody.
>> You mean in terms of its actual
[22:54] implementation?
Uh we won't until we are actually in the
[22:58] planning stage.
Uh I mean, clearly, if uh if people are
[23:07] basically going
going to come through, if the community
[23:11] feels that
uh we don't have to do very much in
[23:15] terms of um
of
[23:20] doing any anything more in terms of
preserving our open space, etc.,
[23:25] uh then we're not looking at tremendous
cost. I mean, you it's very difficult
[23:31] what we have asked, and Derek has
seconded this,
[23:35] is we've asked that this be fully costed
out, which hasn't been done in the past,
[23:41] and it's one of the problems
>> Well, I disagree with that one comment,
[23:44] because it has been done in the past,
because the previous accountant, Josh
[23:49] Asper or whatever his name it is,
him and I had numerous conversations
[23:53] about this. He had sent me a lot of
documents on how the cost was going to
[23:57] be gathered, what the cost was, and
where he got the information from. So,
[24:00] there was some data on that as far as
cost.
[24:03] » This is not just We're not asking now
just for data or discussion. We're
[24:09] saying we would like a fully fleshed-out
financial plan
[24:14] that says exactly when we get into
implementation, what are we expecting in
[24:20] terms of cost of living, etc., etc. What
are we expecting this to cost?
[24:25] And we're asking to look at things like,
quite frankly,
[24:31] if one has to make a choice between open
space
[24:38] and business planning, which would
generate revenue, how much is it costing
[24:45] us to maintain and upkeep our open
space?
[24:50] Uh how much does it mean to the
community? And if it means that we don't
[24:58] have enough revenue coming in in 10
years to maintain that. What decisions
[25:03] do we have to make? And that I think
hasn't been done in the past. It's
[25:09] really forecasting out over a 10-year
period. What impact is this plan's
[25:16] implementation going to have on the full
economic picture of this township?
[25:23] » And there's no guarantee in the
plan, but the plan is actually going to
[25:28] call for any specific
capital changes or projects.
[25:35] » Yeah, I was just going to make that
point.
[25:37] » Yeah, and that the plan is a plan like
how do we as a township expect in
[25:43] economic way to want to use our land in
a very general sense over the next 10
[25:49] years. It could, based on feedback that
we got from the community, it could call
[25:54] for certain
projects. I think you're probably
[25:57] thinking about the last plan called for
fairly specific
[26:02] um projects. Um
There's no guarantee that a plan is
[26:07] going to say we need to build this or we
need to build that or we need to we need
[26:12] to construct it. That that will be the
idea of what what if any projects will
[26:18] come out of the plan has yet to be
determined. That's the whole purpose of
[26:21] doing the plan. The So, I mean the idea
of saying is the cost of the plan and
[26:27] then do we anticipate what some kind of
future cost of any anticipated project.
[26:34] We don't know if there will be any
anticipated project coming
[26:36] [clears throat] out of it. The plan will
tell us that.
[26:39] » Yeah, I think when you when we actually
when the comprehensive plan is done, I
[26:44] think what you want to hone in on answer
your question is what kind of public
[26:47] infrastructure projects is on there or
is it suggesting. And hopefully by that
[26:53] point if you have a steering committee
that
[26:55] um
reflects the township in a lot of
[26:59] different ways that a lot of people will
know already what the public
[27:02] infrastructure projects would be
proposed. Um
[27:06] but
the comprehensive plan is also goes well
[27:10] beyond just public infrastructure
projects. It's also about land use for
[27:14] you know, private entities as well and
how we want to distribute that if
[27:18] anything if any changes come about. So,
I think it's pretty easy to hone in on
[27:23] the
specifically the public infrastructure
[27:26] projects that would be proposed which we
don't we don't really know about at this
[27:30] point.
>> Yeah. I'll make it a comment. I think
[27:33] one of the things that I heard you speak
about before about the failure of a plan
[27:39] 11 years ago was it there wasn't enough
uh public input
[27:44] into the plan. And that's that's why it
didn't fly because people weren't on
[27:50] board with it. And as you've heard from
the board and will continue to hear and
[27:54] as this RFP lays out that one of the
important cross pieces of the plan going
[28:01] forward will be getting as much input
from the public as possible so that when
[28:06] it comes to buying into any proposed
project people will be either on board
[28:12] or will know that they're not on board.
So, that's the big difference that I see
[28:17] is the importance of this
the the this RFP is asking and we really
[28:23] want to have a much greater
input from
[28:27] all the citizenry of East Goshen in the
plan's process so that
[28:33] whatever comes out of it is what people
want.
[28:38] » On that on that basis, I have a question
for you, Russ.
[28:41] Are there any public infrastructure pro-
projects for East Goshen that you would
[28:48] like that you would say, you know what,
I wish we had.
[28:52] » One of the big things
for me would be maintaining the
[28:56] um
sanitation
[29:00] plant cuz it's ready for some big
upgrades apparently.
[29:03] And uh
I think that's very important given fact
[29:06] that
we want to keep as far distant from
[29:09] other townships that going into Aqua.
>> Mhm.
[29:12] » Yeah, which has been the greatest going
crazy for those citizens for those
[29:17] township people. So, that's my biggest
concern is how do we incorporate this
[29:23] into this comprehensive plan?
>> Your input is exactly what this is for.
[29:29] » And how do you do that? Input. I mean
>> I think
[29:32] » I mean how do we how do I become part of
the committee?
[29:35] » I think uh
Russell, you
[29:38] I appreciate those comments and I think
that's going to be something once we
[29:40] develop the steering committee once we
get to the RFP process and what does
[29:44] that medium look like? We've talked to
board members individually now.
[29:48] Maybe we do um maybe we carve each of
those uh throughout the township uh
[29:52] hosting community meetings over at East
Goshen four which would be like Summit
[29:55] House area or maybe we go to Boat Tree,
communicate, and have town hall style
[29:59] meetings as much as we can to get as
much feedback as possible. In addition
[30:02] to having an actual committee made up by
representatives of people who live
[30:05] throughout the township not just you
know,
[30:08] where I live down East Goshen nine but
also every part of the township. So,
[30:11] » Right. Yeah.
>> That's something that's very important
[30:14] to the whole of this. So,
>> Would there be chance for people to
[30:17] volunteer for this?
>> Yeah, I think we I I think after we get
[30:20] a professional firm
we would seek feedback from those
[30:24] professionals to say what is the best
way about going about putting together a
[30:28] steering committee. I would see some
sort of application process um would be
[30:33] appropriate but I would also want input
from whoever we hire on the best way to
[30:37] go about it.
>> And there will all be opportunities for
[30:41] everybody whether they're on the
committee or not, to give feedback to
[30:45] the board.
To the committee on the process and
[30:48] plan.
>> I
[30:49] » Thanks, Russ.
[30:52] If you have any comments, please come up
to the podium. Mr. Shoemaker, I did I
[30:57] see your hand and once we get through
some interim public comment, we'll go to
[31:00] you.
But if you just state your name if
[31:02] you're in East Goshen Township, please.
>> I'm David Schwenk, East Goshen resident.
[31:07] Um
First, I'll take issue with the process
[31:10] characterization of the old plan
failing. It was done in 2015.
[31:15] It did not fail.
Um I was a board supervisor for 6 years
[31:20] and we started in 2017
and every time we looked at a project
[31:26] within
East Goshen Township
[31:29] we made reference to that comprehensive
plan.
[31:32] That was a living document that we used
uh to make decisions as a data point
[31:40] into projects for the township over the
6 years I was on the board of
[31:43] supervisors.
Second thing,
[31:47] the cost of consulting.
So, I retired from
[31:51] a huge multinational firm
Wall Street firm, 120 countries
[31:58] um 100 offices in the United States.
Smart people
[32:04] everywhere.
When we needed to do what we call
[32:08] business process reengineering, which is
to do a long-range plan,
[32:13] we did not do it internally. We hired
McKinsey & Company for $3 million.
[32:18] And we had them come in and help us
develop our plan.
[32:22] Uh when I worked for the Hospital
Association of Pennsylvania, a
[32:25] nonprofit, we every 5 years did a
long-range plan. We had a lot of smart
[32:31] people, PhDs, doctors. We hired a
consultant to come in and help us do our
[32:36] long-range good.
So that'll be money well spent.
[32:40] Number three,
cost of implementing plans.
[32:46] The plan doesn't mean we're doing
anything in the plan. The plan is a
[32:49] plan. The plan is ideas, basically.
So, at the end of the day, we're going
[32:54] to look at all the projects in the in
the comprehensive plan, and we're going
[32:58] to total them whole those projects.
And the total whole process is the cost
[33:03] of implementing it,
the ease of implementation,
[33:07] and the benefit to the community. And
you take those three factors, and if
[33:12] it's cheap, has a great benefit, and
easy to implement, you do that first. If
[33:17] it's super expensive, and not doesn't
have any benefit, and cost a ton of
[33:20] money, that's at the bottom of the total
poll, right? So, that's the process, and
[33:25] the cost of implementing will be a
transparent process of budgeting and
[33:30] public meetings for the next 10 years.
So, everybody will have plenty of
[33:35] opportunity to have input into the
implementation of those projects. These
[33:39] meetings are public meetings. We all
know we can come and participate, as
[33:43] Russ does every meeting.
Um so,
[33:47] the the the final thing is
participation.
[33:50] I remember
in 2015
[33:55] and 2014,
coming to meetings on the comprehensive
[34:00] plan. I had an opportunity to voice my
opinions on the on the content of that
[34:04] plan. I remember being out there in the
lobby, looking at easels with all the
[34:10] things that were in the comprehensive
plan, and we had posted notes that we
[34:14] could stick along the different kinds of
projects, and kind of vote for the for
[34:18] the projects, and put comments on those.
There were plenty of opportunities for
[34:23] for community input. And if we don't
volunteer and get involved with this,
[34:29] shame on us.
[34:33] Shame on us.
This is going to be an open process.
[34:36] Everyone's going to have an opportunity
to participate. The board wants
[34:39] participation, and I'm going to
encourage everybody in this room, and
[34:43] tell your friends to be part of this
comprehensive plan. Thank you.
[34:48] » You're here.
>> Thank you, David.
[34:51] Thank you, David. Are there any other
comments or suggestions by anyone up to
[34:54] the podium, please?
Just so that people We have a a Zoom
[34:58] crowd. I don't want them to miss out on
what you have to say.
[35:00] » Thank you.
>> Yeah. That That actually would have been
[35:03] easier if Derek brought you the mic.
[35:06] You got it?
>> Yeah.
[35:08] » We're good.
[35:12] So, if you just state your name for any
discussion or suggestion, please.
[35:23] » Good evening. My name is Bill Rhoads. I
live in East Goshen Township.
[35:29] I've lived here almost
50 years in
[35:34] Chester County.
And
[35:37] I've had the good fortune of working for
two of the most highly regarded
[35:42] organizations on the planet.
The first was a very high dominant
[35:48] technology company
who rolled along
[35:54] frankly quite successfully for decades.
And
[36:00] somewhere along the way
because it was so successful
[36:06] it felt that it didn't need the advice
of others
[36:10] to be very critical of it and look out
ahead and try to give
[36:17] some insight around the changing world.
So
[36:24] in the '80s
that I was an executive there in the
[36:29] 80s. What I saw was a failure of the
leadership
[36:34] to
uh take the advice of occasional
[36:40] prognosticators in the
technology industry
[36:45] and see the wave of technology that was
coming
[36:50] from rooms filled with
dozens of water-cooled
[36:55] huge supercomputers to a more accessible
technology to take advantage of.
[37:03] And
I remember coming home one day and
[37:07] telling my wife, "Honey, I think I'm
going to have to find a new place to
[37:10] work."
And she was
[37:13] incredibly uh
downcast because we still had two more
[37:17] kids [clears throat]
three more kids to get through college
[37:19] and
And so
[37:23] I left because and then three
years after that
[37:29] that firm was laying off people left and
right
[37:33] because the technology world was going
in a different direction.
[37:40] Okay?
The company I went to work for
[37:44] was a financial services company
who
[37:48] had incredible potential.
It's
[37:52] I think the
third or fourth largest financial
[37:56] services company in the planet.
Has a big footprint in the area. Yeah.
[38:02] And
I went to work for them because I was
[38:05] impressed after my first interview
that they felt that their business model
[38:11] was very strong but they didn't have
uh
[38:15] the kind of leadership in key areas of
that business, particularly the business
[38:21] that so
financial plans for large
[38:26] companies for their employees,
retirement plans.
[38:30] And so I was happy to report I was part
of the group people that came in to
[38:35] change a firm that
was willing to change and willing to
[38:39] listen to outsiders and experts in terms
of what the market was looking for.
[38:48] And that's just a little piece of this
issue that we're discussing here.
[38:53] But I think we would be well advised to
be open.
[38:59] Cuz many of these firms that help you
structure RFPs, and the reason I know
[39:04] that
for a number of years I ran the sales
[39:07] and marketing organization, large firms
hire
[39:12] experts to write
RFPs for
[39:16] and send to a variety of companies.
So they can have the input they need to
[39:23] make the right decision
for the future benefits of their
[39:28] employees. It's a It was a huge
and still is one of the most important
[39:34] benefits
in
[39:37] employee retention.
So I just wanted to share that as sort
[39:41] of a
juxtapose with the discussion we're
[39:45] having.
[39:47] Thank you.
>> Thank you, Mr. Allen.
[39:50] » You're welcome.
>> Goodness.
[39:52] Any other comments in the room before I
go to uh
[39:56] David Shoemaker on Zoom room? He's been
patiently waiting.
[40:00] All right, David, go ahead.
>> Thank you. I think I've unmuted my
[40:05] Excuse me, I think I've unmuted myself
and I hope you can hear me.
[40:09] I want to uh just briefly say uh that I
I commend the um
[40:16] the supervisors and the staff for their
work and their leadership in pushing
[40:22] this issue forward.
Um obviously I'm not
[40:27] familiar with the details of the RFP,
but um
[40:31] I um
am optimistic and uh I applaud your
[40:37] efforts in working on this.
Um and I think it is a critical matter
[40:44] and I concur with uh
my uh
[40:48] uh preceding commenters, Mr. Reynolds
and Mr. Shewy,
[40:52] on uh the importance of what y'all are
doing. So, uh kudos to all of you.
[40:58] And uh I did have one question. I
believe Derek mentioned in in discussing
[41:04] the RFP that there was an attachment
that was the zoning plan of the uh
[41:10] township. Is Is that correct first of
all?
[41:15] » Yes.
>> And is that available on the website or
[41:18] how would a member of the public uh see
a copy of that?
[41:23] » Yeah, it's it's it's literally just I I
labeled it appendix A, but it's
[41:27] I don't know if
Yeah, I don't know.
[41:30] If it's in the packet, if you go on the
supervisor's packet for today, September
[41:35] 1st, but if you just Google East Goshen
zoning map, you'll see a bunch of stuff
[41:40] pop up and the map will pop up, but it's
it's it's just our zoning map with a
[41:43] different district.
>> the RFP?
[41:45] » Ex- excellent. Um does Does that by the
way uh one one
[41:51] question that I've had come up in
conversation is the question of uh
[41:56] uh conservation easements on some of the
property in the township. Are Are those
[42:01] shown anywhere whether a a piece of
property is under a conservation
[42:06] easement or not?
>> Not is map or not even on the county
[42:12] GIS. Conservation easements are very
rare.
[42:17] Um
>> Hm. Okay.
[42:19] » They're
They're recorded at the county level, so
[42:22] the recorder of deeds would have records
of
[42:24] properties that are
um have a conservation easement and
[42:29] therefore cannot be built on, but um
it would just probably be easier to look
[42:34] up specific addresses cuz they're pretty
rare. I mean, not all the open space you
[42:39] see in East Goshen of the county has
conservation easements.
[42:43] » Yeah. Yeah. Well, that that's my
question is to, you know, obviously if
[42:48] it's under an easement, then any future
development potential
[42:53] uh is very different from a property
that doesn't have that.
[42:57] » Conservation easements are the most sure
fire way to inhibit development on that
[43:02] piece of property. That's correct.
>> Yeah. Good. All right, I appreciate I
[43:06] appreciate the answers. Appreciate your
work. Thank you very much.
[43:11] » Thank you, Mr. Shoemaker.
Uh this is the type of
[43:14] input we hope we get for the however
long this is going to take us uh over
[43:18] the next year and a half. So, any other
com-
[43:21] 18 to 24 months. Thank you. Um
any other comments in the room?
[43:28] It's funny tonight I can name everyone
that is East Goshen resident. But
[43:30] Claire, please make sure that you you do
that as well.
[43:36] » Good evening.
I'm Claire Thorn,
[43:38] East Goshen Township resident. I live in
Summit House.
[43:42] Uh question comment.
I imagine this happens regularly, but
[43:49] considering
for example, where Summit House is, at
[43:54] the very corner of the township border,
um
[43:59] will
the planners
[44:04] um have to work in tandem with people
from our neighboring townships on
[44:11] certain projects such as
and then also the state probably
[44:18] to do something like maybe install a
sidewalk along Route 3 between the Giant
[44:24] Shopping Center and Summit House. I
think the Giant is technically in
[44:29] uh Willistown.
Um so something like that for the future
[44:34] considering some people may not want to
use their cars as often or maybe they
[44:39] want to ride a bike. They live nearby.
They want to go to the grocery store or
[44:43] the state store or the Asuka. Excellent.
And um
[44:48] you know, utilize those businesses but
they don't want to drive. I think it
[44:53] would be great in the future to plan on
some sidewalks. I know it might take
[44:57] some coordination but that's something
that personally I would be willing to
[45:03] » So we're legally obligated to when we're
done the comprehensive plan to give it
[45:08] to our adjacent municipalities and give
them
[45:12] I forget. I think it may be 45 days. I'm
not 100% sure, maybe 60 to comment on
[45:17] the plan if they have any comments
specifically
[45:21] to um the boundary areas that are on
like West Town and West Whiteland where
[45:27] we you know, we border uh quite a few
municipalities but
[45:31] beyond just the comprehensive plan when
you're talking about implementing
[45:34] projects it I'm just going to assume
it's a public project just for our sake.
[45:40] And
the good thing about the comprehensive
[45:42] plan is I think you can sort of use it
as a pitch if you will to the other
[45:46] townships. So if under your scenario if
you have you know, joint sidewalk
[45:51] project that you potentially wanted to
do
[45:54] um you can say to West Town, you know,
maybe they'll comment on it and but if
[45:58] not, hey, remember this, you know, we
talked about it in our comprehensive
[46:02] plan. You had a chance to comment. We
really would like to work with you on
[46:05] that. So, I don't think there's beyond
the after the comprehensive plan is
[46:09] done, I don't think there's a formal
process, if you will, but I do think it
[46:13] gives you again
more leverage to talk to your neighbors
[46:16] about what projects may be good around
the peripheral of the township.
[46:21] » Yeah.
>> Yeah.
[46:21] » But something like that is something
that could be
[46:24] with with with the community input, it
could be end up being one of the
[46:29] recommendation of the of the
comprehensive plan.
[46:33] » And not only that, what you've mentioned
in terms of cooperation between
[46:38] townships, that's become much more
of a prevalent conversation that
[46:44] particularly came up when there was a a
conference in Harrisburg of supervisors
[46:51] um who were being trained, etc.
Um and there was a lot of discussion
[46:58] about overlapping
um needs and sharing in those particular
[47:04] situations. So, thanks. That's a really
good suggestion and and question to ask.
[47:11] » Thank you for the education.
>> And I'm going to go on record now saying
[47:15] the two things that I at least for me
from the RFP and or not in the RFP but
[47:18] the comprehensive plan that I'm going to
be focused on is going to be walkability
[47:21] and also preserving open space. So,
those are two things that I've always
[47:24] found important and one of the reasons
why I love East Goshen.
[47:26] Um any other
Mr. Shoemaker, you're back. Go ahead.
[47:33] » I don't know. Maybe he didn't turn off.
>> I'm sorry. I just forgot to lower my
[47:36] hand. Beg your pardon.
>> There we go. Does anyone have anything
[47:40] else to say?
Okay, any other comments in the room?
[47:44] The Zoom room?
Okay. Uh we have a motion. We've had a
[47:47] second. I'll go ahead and call the
motion. All in favor?
[47:50] I.
>> I.
[47:52] » Okay. Motion carries 4-0.
Okay.
[47:57] Thank you, Derek and team. Um No new
business. Do we have any other matter?
[48:03] » Just two quick things, Mr. Chairman.
Just to update the board. Kelly and I
[48:07] did meet with Goshen Fire on 2027 budget
just to go over some preliminary things.
[48:12] They're going to present
I mean, we hoped to have numbers before
[48:15] this, but they're going to present their
budget at the October 6th meeting. And I
[48:19] believe Good Fellowship is going to
follow suit. So, we'll have two
[48:22] presentations that night on the EMS
side. And then,
[48:26] I started today, actually. We're
starting to make headway
[48:31] talking to Aqua about the
access to public water to the the park,
[48:36] which we kept going back and forth.
I think we've had conversations with
[48:40] this about whether we do the bathroom
first or the water first. Talking to the
[48:44] manufacturer or potential manufacturer
of the bathroom,
[48:47] we don't think that we have enough
gallons per minute to be able to meet
[48:54] for a well water in order to put that
new bathroom in there. So, we're going
[48:59] to have to get public water. But,
anyway, I just wanted to let you know I
[49:02] did start, you know, you have to go on a
portal and start the process and and and
[49:07] all that. So, I did do that actually
today. Already talked to the supervisor
[49:11] of Chester County. So, hoping to make
headway on that in the coming months.
[49:17] » As someone who just transferred from
well water to Aqua water, I'm very happy
[49:20] to hear this.
Any other
[49:24] matter?
Any other public comment from the room
[49:26] about anything?
Well, not anything, but
[49:30] any liaison reports from the board
members?
[49:33] » Okay. No report. I'll actually just
mention
[49:38] from the Planning Commission,
the status of the data center ordinance.
[49:42] I'm just got the update from Kelly
Krauss, but
[49:47] the data center ordinance, as you know,
passed the Planning Commission a month
[49:50] or so ago. And it went for comment to
the various um
[49:54] ABCs and also to the county. I think
Kelly expects the comments back from the
[49:59] county imminently, but there are
comments from already from the municipal
[50:03] authority. So um so there may be um
we may or may not be able to pass it by
[50:11] October. Um but but in any event there
is progress on the progress but but but
[50:17] it it may taking longer than I think we
had
[50:21] in terms of getting it uh to the board
for passage.
[50:25] Thank you, Larry.
Does Eric Friedland say something?
[50:28] » No.
>> Okay.
[50:29] All right. Um no correspondence for
today. Interests I would entertain a
[50:32] motion to adjourn.
>> I so I so move.
[50:36] » Yeah, thank you. And thanks to that All
right, all in favor? I Motion carries
[50:40] 4-0. Thanks so much. Have a great night,
everyone.
[50:43] Anything else, Frank?
>> Nope.