[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.

BOS Meeting 9/1/2026

Transcript