[1:25] I'll call to order.

[1:30] I'll call to order the board of commissioners another Providence

[1:32] Township meeting for June 12th, 2025. We'll start with roll call.

[1:38] Morning FA, Township Manager.

[1:45] Megan Burns, solicitor for Bob Scott tonight.

[1:49] Max Cooper, Ward One Commissioner. Matt G, two, Pete Mackenzie, fourth W. Henry,

[1:54] W three. Shaina Barnes, fifth W. And good evening, Robert Okconor here from W

[1:57] 6. Candace Carbone, W 7. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance

[2:06] to the flag of the United States of America to the stands

[2:14] indivisible.

[2:18] Our executive session will be held after the meeting tonight. Um, okay. This is

[2:24] officially our public hearing for the stop sign on Laurel Lane at Fairfield.

[2:28] That I know that's further down in the agenda. Do we need to

[2:33] I would hold the hearing right now and then further down the agenda you can

[2:36] make a vote um when it comes up. I think it's like 3A. Okay. So, is anyone here

[2:42] um to discuss the stop sign at Laurel and Fairfield?

[2:47] Since they are not, then we can we vote on it later or should we vote on it now?

[2:51] You can vote on it now, too, if you want to take it out of order. Okay. Agenda is

[2:56] that it's maybe yours. Yeah, we'll move back. Yeah.

[3:02] All right. Um,

[3:06] I will move to approve ordinance number 863 of the township of Nether

[3:10] Providence, which provides that um there will be a stop intersection established

[3:18] on Laurel Lane at the intersection with Fairfield Drive in both directions of

[3:23] travel. May I get a second? Second. Any comments or questions? I will just note

[3:28] that the the neighborhood was very much in favor of this and has been to several

[3:31] meetings. So, um I think that we're all comfortable that this is um something

[3:35] the community wants. Y um all in favor, please vote by saying

[3:40] I. I. Any opposed? That carries. Got a full board. 70.

[3:46] All right. Thank you. Um next is public comment. Um I believe there are maybe

[3:50] several items that people are here for se public comment. And if um if you are

[3:55] going to speak, please state your name and address for the record. Please try

[3:58] to keep your comments to about three minutes because we do try to keep the

[4:01] board meeting going and if there's no need to sort of repeat if someone's

[4:05] already made the point you are planning to make. Um so come on up. Who would

[4:09] ever like to be first? Okay, everyone's just observing. Nope.

[4:14] Nette's coming.

[4:24] My name's Nette Witset and uh I'm here to

[4:31] find uh some answers to the Martha Burton Park

[4:40] project as well as Sappovitz Park. I sent an email to Moren about two weeks

[4:51] ago and a couple days ago she decided to answer the email.

[4:59] So, I sent her an email today and um one of the things that she mentioned in

[5:07] the email was that Sarah Pec's donation was used between the two parks

[5:17] when that money was only specified for Martha Burton's community park. It

[5:25] came out of media walks um contribution that she was making to

[5:33] firsttime own home buyers and I asked her since we didn't get any could we use

[5:40] it for the park. So the money was requested on my behalf

[5:49] and uh because I had asked was there money left

[5:55] to buy more plants for the garden. Um, so I I'd like to find the original grant

[6:04] and the engineering sketches for both parks.

[6:10] And I'm questioning how you're saying the

[6:15] funds are gone when you're using material left over from other park

[6:21] projects to refurbish Martin Birther's community park. For example, the fence

[6:29] and the gravel came from other park projects within the community. So, no

[6:37] money was spent.

[6:41] Uh, and the walking path that goes around

[6:46] the perimeter of the park, according to the sketch that I have, that walking

[6:52] path was only to go from the entrance to in front of the gardens to the picnic

[6:59] grove, which Dave had said before he left that they weren't going to be able

[7:06] to do the picnic grove because it fell out of the boundary. countries of of the

[7:12] poor. Um so uh

[7:17] that that money should still be in the pot because it's not being used for the

[7:24] picnic roof which would be tree removals and and and grading and buying picnic

[7:33] tables. Uh the lighting fixtures need to be

[7:38] relocated due to the covering of the trees.

[7:43] One is not even visible and the other one doesn't light up the park

[7:52] and uh the fence has one panel.

[7:59] Now, public works said that that's all they were told to put up was one panel.

[8:05] But if you look at the sketch, the fence goes along the path of the outside of

[8:14] the garden, which would cover the rain garden through the native plant garden.

[8:22] Yeah. I Let me Can I just make a couple comments before um maybe I'd like you

[8:26] not to interrupt me. You can wait until I'm done. Okay.

[8:31] Please keep it to three minutes and then we we can have a productive discussion.

[8:35] Um, you you relocated a tree and it died

[8:42] and aren't you supposed to plant two new trees when a tree is removed per the

[8:50] tree committee? Isn't that part of the township's

[8:56] uh policy? which no trees have been planted or does

[9:03] it seem by marine that there's any money left to go into Martha Burton's

[9:08] Community Park? Um the trees that are there need

[9:14] protection from the deer that are rubbing on the trees which will cause

[9:21] them to die or they could get funguses. Um the

[9:30] swing, the merry ground and the seessaw were to be repainted

[9:37] and the tires under the seessaw need to be raised up or removed. It's my

[9:45] understanding that they're not allowed anymore in playgrounds.

[9:51] So some other padding would have to be made or more wood chips put down. The

[9:58] totem poles that were placed where the fences they were made by

[10:06] Smarty um Ellen Mgrim's group on Monday and they were donated to the park.

[10:14] It's my understanding that I was told that they were placed

[10:20] where Ellen said to put them, but Ellen only told me that they were for a park

[10:27] and it was up to us to decide where they were going to be placed and certainly

[10:34] not along where the fence should go. They should be in the garden and

[10:40] dispersed throughout the park. Um

[10:46] the the new platform uh has a metal black picnic table which you know

[10:54] attracts heat. So it is unbearable for the children to sit on during the day.

[11:02] An umbrella needs to be purchased for it to be usable.

[11:08] And um

[11:12] the the garden needs to have a retaining wall put in because right now it's just

[11:22] the end of the garden and then the walkway which whenever it rains it the

[11:29] soil is eroding down into the into the gravel. So without a retaining wall put

[11:37] there, that'll just continue to happen, which will cause the flooding to still

[11:44] happen where the new equipment is placed. As for Sappovitz Park,

[11:51] there was to be a walking path from the upper courts to the lower courts to make

[11:57] the entrance ADL compliant and to stop the soil erosion from the top of the

[12:04] hill. That causes a runoff and it pools at the

[12:09] bottom. Right now, there's a large tree root

[12:15] from the storm that is still there and a gaping hole. And that storm was over two

[12:23] months ago and it hasn't been removed.

[12:29] Um, so it it's it's unsafe and it's not uh it's not protected by yellow taping

[12:38] to keep kids from running down the hill and falling into the hole. And it's not

[12:45] it's no protection there. It's just a gaping hole from a 100year-old tree that

[12:52] fell down during the storm. And there was no mention of a softball

[13:00] field.

[13:04] And there was to be an ADL swing put up. And there was also no mention of

[13:12] enlarging the half court, just repainting and repairing the basketball

[13:18] hoops. And there was to be picnic tables added as well as grills. a water

[13:25] management system to stop the water flowing from the underground pipe into

[13:31] the stream. And there was to be stream restoration to reopen the stream so that

[13:38] the water can flow down away from the lower field entrance of the park. Any

[13:44] changes to the plan should have been approved by the state and James and I

[13:50] should have been notified to get our feedback in the community on the

[13:56] proposed changes to the parks. When were we taken out of the loop?

[14:04] So, the final plans um are available and we will certainly share them with you. I

[14:08] mean that these are both grant-f funed projects that had to be approved by the

[14:12] state and as they move through the process there are some changes that are

[14:16] made based on the discussions and the you know the the states and county or

[14:21] whoever is authorizing the grant. So I think the best next step is to get you

[14:25] those documents and you can look at them because you know similar to any project

[14:30] there are many sketches along the way and many ideas. Um I think your comments

[14:34] related to two different parks. Um and so we will certainly get you the plans

[14:39] for marked the Burton and Sepitz and we can go from there you know and and we

[14:43] can certainly get you all the grant documentation which shows the cash uh

[14:47] match that the township needed to pay for No. If you would like I also

[14:51] wouldn't like you need to be at the microphone if you'd like to speak.

[14:55] Um, and so I I think you can have another maybe another minute, but I

[14:59] think what would be most productive is to share those documents and go from

[15:02] there because, you know, we can't sort of litigate it based on some ideas or or

[15:06] sketches or things of the past. So, um, let's do that. You know, like you said,

[15:11] you just probably sent Moren an email today, so there's really been no time to

[15:15] react to that. So, we would also like to have a copy of the working budget for

[15:22] this year. I believe that's on the website. Is it? Yeah. So you're you're

[15:26] everyone has access to that. Please do take a look at it. We would we welcome

[15:31] you to. We want the copy of the budget that you're using which is on the

[15:36] website. Yeah. I mean that's that's a public

[15:39] document and all the all the meetings where we discussed it's all public.

[15:42] There's no there's nothing to hide there. It's we have the same document

[15:46] you do. That's how it works. So the grants are over three years old. They

[15:52] were awarded three years ago. That's probably the Stapovich grant was I

[15:58] believe 400 and some change and Martha Burton was

[16:04] two. They're very expensive and they take a very long time. You are

[16:07] definitely right about that. And the changes that are being done to both

[16:15] parks are not in accordance to the sketches that were submitted. Well, they

[16:20] are in accordance with the plan that was approved by the state and the the

[16:24] whoever's overseeing the grant. And so that's really what we legally are bound

[16:28] by. Um, and so I've been to both parks. I think they're looking great. We've

[16:31] actually got a ton of positive comments about both. I'm very sorry if you're

[16:34] unhappy about them. There are certain things that if they're brought in a

[16:38] productive way, like certain areas needed shading. The Boy Scouts,

[16:42] especially the Eagle Scouts, are always looking for projects. That sounds like a

[16:45] great Eagle Scout project. So, we would like to collaborate in a productive way

[16:48] on certain things like that. But I think we all need to start from scratch, which

[16:51] is getting the the grant documents that were approved by the state. And so I

[16:56] think we're gonna probably start there and then um we can continue this

[17:00] conversation. So is anyone else here for public? When will that happen? When are

[17:06] you proposing a meeting? I think Moren can send you the documents

[17:11] and then we can go from there. Yeah, I think we're requesting a meeting

[17:17] between our ward leader, the township manager, and Marine, please. I think I

[17:23] have a problem with a sitting school board member coming here and attacking

[17:26] us and accusing us of misappropriating money. I got a huge problem with it. I'd

[17:30] like to take you misappropriating money. Take a tour of the school district

[17:34] facilities, which are in utter disrepair. The school district has a

[17:37] hundred million dollar budget. We put hundreds of thousands of dollars into

[17:40] this park. The community has been involved. Our public works has been

[17:44] working hard. It's not done yet. It's ongo. We will get you the documents.

[17:48] What? What? It's the hostility. Please, your your public comment is is over at

[17:52] this time. Whoever would like to come up next, please state your name and address

[17:56] for the record. And it's not first time. Your com your

[18:01] public comment is no is over. Whoever else would like to come up, please state

[18:05] your name and address for the record. All right.

[18:15] Hey everybody, James Mason. Not supposed to say my address, right?

[18:19] Just my address is helpful. Yes, I'm sorry. Yes, address is helpful. Oh, my

[18:25] address too. Yeah, and cell phone. Did you say is helpful is helpful? Address

[18:32] cell phone. Just for record, we we like to make we like to make sure public

[18:37] comment is generally contained to residents. 613 West. Thank you.

[18:42] Um I don't really have a lot to say, but

[18:47] thank you for you know handling um the last discussion. I think the budget

[18:55] would us going over the budget I think would

[18:59] help people at least start to feel better that they understand what you

[19:04] know what money's allocated some places. I don't think that's the answer to

[19:08] anything. um in from what I heard I I get the impression that um you know

[19:15] we're we're talking about things after they've already finished but being there

[19:20] while it's going on would have been a lot better and I don't know I don't know

[19:24] the the committees too well so if involvement on let's say parks committee

[19:30] or a this committee or whatever by c citizens in that area if that

[19:34] involvement would help them or us understand what's going on at the time

[19:39] and be more involved in that. Would that be a step in the right direction? So, I

[19:46] I think we like to get community input on certain things and on the parks is

[19:51] certainly one of them and being on the parks commission, you know, you can

[19:53] provide more input, but at the end of the day, decisions need to be made based

[19:57] on the funding available and the the objectives of the grant and sometimes

[20:01] things change and it's not necessarily, you know, there's there's no intention

[20:05] to cut community out I mean, things need to be streamlined and move along. And

[20:09] so, I don't I don't know specifically, you know, there there were a long list

[20:13] of things that seems like some things were maybe placed in a place that we're

[20:17] not happy with, but generally the ideas from start to finish with both of these

[20:21] projects were were pretty similar, you know, and so I I think when we're sort

[20:26] of bickering over the details, I'm not sure if I could tell you where there's a

[20:29] place for you to insert yourself that would have changed that result. you

[20:32] know, a lot of it's engineering based or um just working with the engineers on

[20:36] the other side at the state. I think um we have a new public works director who

[20:41] is um I think easy to communicate with. So if there are certain things um that

[20:47] the community would like to discuss, we could get him involved. I will say that,

[20:52] you know, yelling and screaming at our public works crew while they're working

[20:55] at the parks is completely inappropriate and it's something that is going to be

[20:58] addressed going forward. um there's zero tolerance for that. And so the and the

[21:03] crew they they make no decisions. They are told what to do and so they they

[21:08] will have no real input other than I was told to put this here. And so that's not

[21:12] the time or place to be discussing anything that you have concerns or

[21:16] questions about. Um if you have things to discuss in a productive manner, I

[21:21] think the public works director would be happy to talk those things through.

[21:24] Yeah. And I agree with you. I'm not trying to say that um

[21:28] involvement in the committees would change things, but if it improves

[21:33] communication, I think so. Might avoid this. Yes, for sure. I think that's

[21:36] right. Yeah. Um that's all. Oh, actually, no, I have one other comment.

[21:40] One person did notice this, and again, this is talking about something after

[21:43] the fact, and I don't think there's anything we can do about it now, but the

[21:47] uh the infield was was redesign done at Sepitch and looks really nice, and I

[21:51] like the drainage. Not until after I was done did I notice that. And maybe it's

[21:56] the way baseball script is supposed to be because I don't know anything about

[21:58] baseball. The infield is it's got to be at least this much higher than you know

[22:03] it's like a real slope. Well, was that a drainage thing, Charles? You could

[22:07] probably advantage

[22:12] back,

[22:26] you know, phase two, phase three, whatever would be the back stops,

[22:31] dugouts, and so I think we've applied for separate

[22:35] grants to redo through the softball field sort of in totality. I think our

[22:39] grant that we had outstanding was denied. Um it is still one of the

[22:42] projects that we plan to continue to try to pursue. So I think that this like

[22:46] Charles is saying is temporary and probably related to the drainage and

[22:49] again that's feedback right knowing that feedback you know we would I would have

[22:54] given that answer before. Yeah. Anyway, thank you James.

[23:00] Okay. Anyone else for public comment?

[23:09] Good evening. My name is Joseph Harour, 428 Washington Avenue. And um I want to

[23:17] preference my comments uh really with a question because what I came up here to

[23:23] discuss um was the status of Sappit Park

[23:27] specifically as it pertained to the softball field and also a memorial that

[23:35] had been planned and discussed several times over the last decade

[23:41] in in regards to that. It's really two separate things. Um,

[23:46] one I believe is definitely

[24:01] and also Mr. Grady where we actually plotted out what the infield would look

[24:06] like and this was after a request to us which we complied with to go down and

[24:11] take those proper measurements. So the reason why I preface it with a

[24:16] question is because I just may be ill informed on what the status of it is

[24:20] because there has been seems to me and I'm only speaking for myself as a

[24:26] disconnect between what's going on in the park and the things that I know I've

[24:30] discussed with various people on the board. Our faces have changed over the

[24:35] last decade, but for instance, the one memorial that we had actually planned

[24:42] for the softball team that played down there, uh the original plans didn't even

[24:47] involve us coming to the township for any kind of donation. We actually had

[24:52] plans set to where we were going to raise our own. And the problem was and

[24:57] the conflict was we just wanted to know where we could place it because we

[25:02] didn't want to get it set into place with the pending changes that were

[25:06] eventually going to have to settle this party. Now,

[25:11] in the midst of all that, we kept getting put off and saying, "Well, wait

[25:15] until this comes in or wait until that money is appropriated." and which we

[25:21] were fine with that. But see, now we're 10 years in and it seems like there are

[25:27] things happening in Sabbath Park, but they're moving on without any

[25:32] consideration to what was already promised to us because we didn't

[25:36] specifically come down there to ask for anything new other than that memorial.

[25:42] The backs stop and the benches were things that were already there and were

[25:46] removed but not replaced. So that's all we were asking for. reason why I had a

[25:52] conflict with it or at least a question about it is because uh

[25:58] almost last April I was here the same exact

[26:03] discussion, the same exact presentation and right prior before I spoke there was

[26:09] a group of Boy Scouts that came up with their proposal for Leaper Park and

[26:16] they were giving the same information that I was giving but then I looked at

[26:21] subsequent plans that had actually been put forward and actually completed and

[26:26] so quite naturally I'm like well what happened to us because that was

[26:30] something that was literally brought up last year. Are you talking about the boy

[26:34] the Eagle Scout project at Leaper? So they they pay for that. They do that

[26:38] themselves. I mean we might have given a small donation but the softball field I

[26:41] remember you speaking um we applied for a grant right after that. I mean it was

[26:44] it's a great idea and it's great history and we pretty quickly thereafter applied

[26:48] for a grant which was recently denied. I mean that was right. Well, I'm not that.

[26:52] I'm just saying that none of that was unbeknounced to us. So, all we can see

[26:56] is certain things happening in the field and a lot of people don't know what's

[27:01] going on. Did the project get cancelled? um specifically like before I leave here

[27:05] tonight, I I I want a specific name and contact person so that I can work in

[27:10] conjunction with whatever you're doing and assist where I can, but and

[27:16] specifically though to make sure that the things that were already promised to

[27:19] us don't get left by the wayside because I've been at pretty much every one of

[27:23] these community functions to lend my hand and get dirty with everyone else.

[27:28] And there was a couple times where literally at this park they were playing

[27:31] trees. So I'm like, "No, pitchers mouth." No, second base. So it seemed

[27:36] like our consideration completely brushed aside.

[27:41] So I just want to make sure that one, we understand what's going on down there

[27:46] and that's fine. Um I have no dispute with what you've already said, but we

[27:51] did have plans, you know, in place. At least that was my understanding and I

[27:56] just want to make sure that we're not getting left behind with everything else

[27:59] that's going on. No, I think there's there's two sort of there was the grant

[28:03] that that was approved and that grant is very old. I mean that that's maybe more

[28:07] than three years old, maybe like six or seven years old. The initial SAP of its

[28:11] grant um and that work is just being completed. It was delayed many times for

[28:15] several reasons. Um and so that is the plans that we were going to get for

[28:20] Nanette and we can hap we can get those for you too. So you can see what the

[28:24] state approved um as far as that grant. I'm sorry. Ste's

[28:30] wage grant. Was that the one we used there? So, it's it's the DCNR grant. So,

[28:36] um we can get you, you know, a copy of those documents. Um and then like I

[28:41] said, secondarily after you spoke last year, um I can't speak to what happened

[28:46] before that. I I I don't recall discussions about the softball field

[28:49] since I was on the board before that, but when you brought it to us last time,

[28:52] it was a great idea and we initiated a new grant round that um and so I think

[28:57] to do all of the changes that you discussed with it sounds like maybe Dave

[29:00] and Charles we would need grant funding for uh if you guys wanted to raise funds

[29:05] for certain things. I mean we we could work out it sounds like Charles has

[29:09] already somewhat laid out what the field would look like and so I think

[29:14] that was what you're referring to is the back stop and the bench is being

[29:18] replaced. Yeah what I understand but the bottleneck when it just came to

[29:23] to the memorial because we weren't asking for any funds. We just wanted to

[29:27] know where we could put it. Well it sounds like there's been a design now

[29:31] the other things that are being Charles is that something we can do now based on

[29:35] the Okay. Yeah.

[29:40] Yeah.

[29:45] That was our concern. Fair enough. That's I mean, but I think what I need

[29:50] is someone that I can Yeah, you should you should contact Moren, the township

[29:53] manager. Sorry. Moren, the township manager. Sorry. Her information's on the

[29:59] on the website. It seems like what it just reading between the lines here, it

[30:03] seems like what maybe happened before was that there was concern about placing

[30:06] the memorial before we had, you know, really good plans about the so for the

[30:10] softball field. It Charles has now done that. You know, he's he's has enough

[30:15] information he's saying to know where things will go when the grant eventually

[30:19] hopefully gets funded. So, she and Moren and Charles can work with you and get

[30:23] the memorial placed. So, in the meantime, October, it also seems like

[30:27] there's just some confusion due to the length that the grants have been

[30:31] outstanding of um what's been done and what still remains to be completed. So,

[30:34] I think maybe one of the things our engineer and our managers can do is um

[30:38] for each grant, put a list together of um what's been done thus far under the

[30:43] grant, what remains to be done, and then we can share that community and then and

[30:48] then if there's any questions or discrepancies, we can go through that

[30:52] together. And then like the idea for the memorial, which is a great one, you

[30:55] know, maybe that's something we can get moving on now, too. But I just think we

[30:59] just got to get the information out there. So, I think if we put a list

[31:01] together, that would be helpful. Okay. One quick question. So, based on my

[31:06] address, I'm in the third board, correct? So, so that that makes you the

[31:11] third board. So, the board I'm I'm the third board commissioner. Okay. Beth

[31:17] Henry, I'm sorry. Beth Henry. Okay. So, you're welcome to talk to Beth, but sort

[31:21] of the day-to-day like going out and meeting and planning and discussing

[31:24] would really be our engineer and the township manager. Yeah.

[31:28] Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else for public comment?

[31:33] All right. Um, we have an opening on our historical

[31:37] commission. If you are interested and excited by historical things, please

[31:42] reach out. Um, we do not have any minutes to approve tonight. Is there

[31:46] anything on the solicitor's report not otherwise on the agenda? No, there is

[31:49] not anything on the engineers report not otherwise on the agenda.

[31:53] That is that a yes.

[31:59] And on the West Road Valley West Valley road safety they did get

[32:05] back I mean for some dates to meet the end of August

[32:10] June 24th or 25th. So I'll pass that around this let them know. And then the

[32:16] other one is u Manchester Crosswalk for a while. Um

[32:24] Pendot permanent expect by the end of this week tomorrow. Thank you.

[32:29] for application protocol strap has so when you when you talk to pendot will

[32:34] they be able to talk about um the issue at null and whatever that is um turner

[32:40] or is that is that a different group doesn't know about that yet

[32:48] we've got a sinkhole

[32:53] all right yeah I mean that's we've got to get that taken care of um okay thank

[32:59] Um on to government relations committee report with commissioner Cooper.

[33:03] Thank you very much McKenzie. Um there's a lot of meat uh to discuss in my

[33:07] section today. We have uh several guests who have come to provide some comment um

[33:12] for that as well. Um so what I'll do is um we'll just kind of bullet out what

[33:18] I'm I'm going to be discussing. Um we have a resolution that I'm going to

[33:23] introduce uh and that I will ask the board to pass. The resolution will be to

[33:27] authorize uh either Kate or myself uh to sign uh an agreement which the details

[33:34] of which are still being kind of finalized. Um I'm also going to provide

[33:38] kind of a brief overview of how we got here with EMS and then I'll ask some of

[33:43] our municipal neighbors uh from Swathmore, Rose Valley uh and Rutledge

[33:47] to come provide comment. They uh wanted to introduce themselves uh kind of in

[33:51] the spirit of collaboration as well. So, um, as a reminder for, um, the rest of

[33:58] our board, uh, when Croer closed, in addition to losing the acute care

[34:01] hospital, we lost 60% of our EMS services locally. That meant that we no

[34:06] longer had ALS, uh, coverage. Um, as a 90-day stop gap measure, the county

[34:11] placed a chase comp uh, in Swathmore, which has been providing ALS to us. Uh

[34:16] over the last few months, we've been having weekly uh EMS working group

[34:21] meetings with many of the people uh who are here um in which we've uh been going

[34:27] back and forth and finalizing uh details of a plan. That plan um is you know

[34:33] substantially um going to be what you see here in the what's the document

[34:38] labeled cost sharing agreement. Um, and you know, in summary, I think this plan

[34:45] really, you know, I'm asking you to support it because I think it does two

[34:48] three things really well. I think it optimizes our cash flow. Uh, the plan uh

[34:53] that's here uh uses a model of ALS that will uh provide we believe the best

[34:59] mechanism for ongoing reimbursements to keep our costs low um into the future. I

[35:05] think it keeps the kind of power uh local. This is u an agreement amongst

[35:09] our near municipal neighbors, not an agreement with an outside contractor

[35:13] who, you know, could be difficult to communicate with. Um, and lastly, I know

[35:17] we've been as a board and amongst several of our neighbors talking about

[35:21] wanting to make progress towards more regional emergency services, fire, EMS,

[35:26] uh, whatnot. And I think, uh, you know, passing this resolution to adopt this

[35:29] agreement, uh, takes us a step, uh, towards that. Um, so that is my, uh,

[35:35] request. Um, there's several uh guests here. Uh, if you would like to come up

[35:39] and introduce yourself and uh provide what comment you would like, I I welcome

[35:43] you all to do that now.

[36:02] Good evening. Um, I'm Jill Gesi from Swathmore Burough. I'm Swathmore Burough

[36:06] President. I don't have any prepared remarks. I'm just here in support of the

[36:10] resolution which we passed Monday the same week. Um, I would say beyond us

[36:16] being in a critical position where we have to provide this and want to provide

[36:19] this for our residents, this is the trajectory we're on anyway, we're we've

[36:24] all been working together for a long long time on fire consolidation. So,

[36:30] this is handin glove I believe with that. and I trust our uh first

[36:35] responders, firefighters um and our EMS personnel and I think we can get the job

[36:40] done and keep it local and it kind it's proof of concept from my perspective of

[36:45] what we've been trying to do anyway. So I welcome your ascent in this

[36:50] resolution. Thank you.

[36:55] Hi Kristen Seymour with Swathmore Bureau Council. First, um I would like to thank

[36:59] the board for sharing Max Cooper with us. He has been phenomenal. Uh he has

[37:05] led this charge both for this um I guess I don't really want to call it a

[37:10] band-aid band-aid solution, but for this short-term solution, which could

[37:13] eventually lead us to full uh to have an authority, right, to to where each

[37:18] municipality can appoint someone to a board. That would be the end goal in my

[37:23] mind and I think in in many many's mind. Um, so thank you to Max and to Conland

[37:28] and I hope that we can count on your support. Rose Valley passed this last

[37:32] night unanimously. Sorry to steal your thunder, mayor, if you were going to say

[37:36] that, but we were so excited with Rose Valley passing this last night. And we

[37:39] hope that you guys can be the third. Thank you.

[37:46] Hi, I'm Sue Hunt, uh, Vice President Brett,

[37:49] and again, we're here to support your board in making your decision on this

[37:54] resolution. Rage will have their vote on Monday, which we anticipate will be an

[38:01] affirmative vote. We appreciate Max, all the work he has done, and uh, Chief

[38:06] Ruth, what he has done and putting this together. we definitely need to do

[38:10] something and our little burrow of 800 people need we need someone to help us.

[38:16] So thankfully this has come up and again as um

[38:22] Kristen as Kristen said you know becoming a regional approach seems to be

[38:27] the way the world is going. So thank you for any consideration to this.

[38:31] Thank you.

[38:38] I was just gonna reiterate what Chris said and and thank you for sharing Max

[38:41] because this has been uh vital work for a lot of different municipalities. Um

[38:46] I'm the only non-elected um you to discuss this plan and I think the work

[38:53] the electives have done has been vital. Um you know we've been meeting as Max

[38:57] said weekly. We've gone through a bunch of different iterations and

[39:00] considerations to try to come up with something that is fair for everybody. Um

[39:05] that allows us to offset costs by taking those insurance reimbursements and

[39:09] payments from individuals that utilize the service and then share that back to

[39:14] the municipalities so that the ongoing costs are less than um than just paying

[39:20] for a service. So um we want to make sure that that this is uh equitable. We

[39:26] want to make sure that there is no delay in providing the service to all the

[39:30] municipalities. Um, and we believe that within this plan, we offset costs

[39:36] somewhere between a half and a third depending and it will be reviewed

[39:40] quarterly. And I'm sure Max will go into some of those specific details. But, um,

[39:45] we appreciate your consideration and again, we're all here to be as

[39:49] supportive as we can um, and hope that we can work together on this and many

[39:53] more things in the future. Thank you. Thank you very much.

[40:00] Um, so as I said, Monday is our council meeting. If anybody would like to come,

[40:04] we start at 7:30 at the Rutled Burrow Hall. So, thank you. Thanks.

[40:14] I just want to before you uh even speak, uh, thank Mayor Bill Hail of Rose Valley

[40:20] for the substantial on the-fly line edits to resolution last night. They

[40:24] were very helpful. You and Matt Sullivan should take the show on the road. I was

[40:27] really impressed. Matt Sullivan's like the king of edits on the fly. Remember

[40:30] that? He used to always do that here. So, uh, I just want to go over kind of

[40:36] the meat of this thing to make sure everybody understands it. So, it's

[40:40] really the, uh, five points after the whereas clauses in the beginning and I

[40:46] just going to we'll just go through them. Number one, this idea we have the

[40:52] I want to make sure everyone has the document pulled up correctly because I

[40:55] think there are multiple versions of the document build printed copies for Is

[40:59] this the 5.1? These one that we have. Okay. All right. We have Thank you.

[41:04] Okay. So number one, the ALS ALS advanced life support

[41:12] services budget shall be defined as the estimated quarterly costs providing ALS

[41:18] services including operating costs such as salaries, benefits, insurance,

[41:23] training, supplies, and medical supervision. Capital expenses for

[41:27] equipment such as cardiac monitors. necessary upgrades to existing BLS

[41:33] ambulance to ALS capacity reimbursements such as those from

[41:39] insurance companies and ind individuals and other forms of revenue such as

[41:43] grants. The ALS services budget shall be updated

[41:47] quarterly by the fire department as data on actual operating costs, capital

[41:51] expenditures, reimbursements, and other revenues becomes available over time.

[41:58] Any questions on that? Number two, each meta each

[42:03] municipality's call percentage shall be defined as the percentage of EMS calls

[42:08] located within that municipality during the prior calendar year relative

[42:13] to the total number of EMS calls within the municipalities during the year that

[42:17] year excluding the northern portions of Nether Providence Township and Rose

[42:22] Valley Burough where media fire company's ambulance is primary on the

[42:26] Delaware County 911 dispatch card system and and the western portion of Rose

[42:31] Valley Burrow where Brook Havens Fire Company Company's ambulance is primary.

[42:36] The call percentages shall be updated annually based on the Delaware County

[42:40] EMS call data for the prior calendar year. Any questions or concerns? So I

[42:47] just was um so this is assuming sort of what there are six municipalities right

[42:52] that were joining the five. So, Nether, Swathmore, Morton, Rutled, and Rose

[42:57] Valley are the five. Um, Nether's, you know, going to vote on it tonight.

[43:02] Swathmore and Rose Valley have already uh voted. Rutled Ridge will vote uh this

[43:07] coming Monday and Morton will vote on the 25th. Okay. And so then is the idea

[43:12] like moving forward that if there's other municipalities in the mix then

[43:17] they'll be brought into the discussion at that point? So, this document,

[43:22] this agreement, we really kind of view as a 17-month um kind of stop gap.

[43:26] There's a certain administrative simplicity to it um because we needed to

[43:31] build something that would be able to kind of take over in 90 days. Yeah,

[43:35] there's I would say kind of more complex administrative structures that we are

[43:40] considering such as like the emergency services authority that we've been

[43:43] discussing perhaps like the model that Mesa had that will take a significantly

[43:49] longer time to set up. In our conversation with them, it seems like

[43:52] they think it could take in the one to two year time frame. So, um, as we're

[43:57] talking about that, you know, one of the things that, um, I'd like to consider is

[44:02] we kind of pass this, which will hold its way for 17 months, and then the EMS

[44:06] working group can continue to have discussions to, you know, see if we can

[44:11] operationalize an authority potentially expanding the number of kind of members

[44:17] um, during those conversations. Okay, perfect. Sorry to interrupt you.

[44:22] Okay, any any other concerns with number two?

[44:26] Okay. Number three, each m each each municipality agrees to share the costs

[44:30] of the fire company's ALS ALS services budget in portions to its call

[44:36] percentage as set forth in the following table. And it gives the call

[44:41] percentages. It's 26 for Swathmore and Morton, 40% 40% for Nether Providence,

[44:47] 5% for Rutledge, and 3% for Rose Valley. and you just proportion the total

[44:52] quarterly cost over the males.

[44:57] Uh the quarterly payment in the table for the third calendar quarter

[45:02] of 2025 conservatively assumes no reimbursements or other revenue for that

[45:07] quarter since reimbursement payments are going to be delayed.

[45:12] Although this agreement takes effect on August 1st, 2025 and ALS services must

[45:18] commence by that date, the fire company will be incurring expenses in July,

[45:22] purchasing ALS capital equipment and bringing paramedics on board. The ALS

[45:28] ambulance balance table shall be updated quarterly as ALS services budget is

[45:34] quarterly updated and the call percentages are annually updated.

[45:39] And so to clarify because we were talking about how revenue would be used

[45:44] to offset um the the kind of ongoing costs in a way to bring these costs

[45:48] down. So this is uh what you see here on page two would be kind of our initial

[45:53] payment and as revenues start to come in, you know, it takes a few months for

[45:57] the collection to to come in. Um those will be kind of allocated to these. So

[46:03] the quarterly payment we make for the fourth quarter at the end of 25 we

[46:08] anticipate to be less than this um for two reasons. One um there's five months

[46:14] uh that we need to cover unbudgeted in fiscal year 25. So one quarter is three

[46:19] months. This is three months worth of payment. So the last quarter will be two

[46:23] months worth of payment. And it'll also have beginnings of our collections in

[46:27] it. Um and so when you look at how much we would be

[46:34] There's the number. When you look at if we got zero collections, how much we

[46:39] would be paying um for the EMS services um in 25 it would be $126,244.87.

[46:49] Um but because reimbursements will start to roll in that actual amount that would

[46:53] pay maybe you know slightly less than that and then you know even less as more

[46:57] uh kind of payments come in into the beginning. So, do we have quotes like

[47:01] for the upfit of the ambulance? Like, are are we certain on those costs or

[47:04] we're pretty certain that they and they can do it by August 1st? So, I think

[47:08] some of those administrative questions were probably best answered by Chief

[47:11] Booth. Um, but I'll say um, you know, we have been internally kind of discussing

[47:17] that. We feel pretty good about the quotes based on uh, Chief Booth's kind

[47:22] of personal experience. you know, the the chief at Groger. Um, and some of

[47:26] these conversations have been externally validated by one of the largest EMS

[47:30] companies in the state, Tower Health. So, we kind of had multiple people lay

[47:34] eyes on this, but I'll let you answer this. Sure. So, we have um obviously

[47:39] done this multiple ways and there's been multiple iterations. So, we have the

[47:43] annual expected operational cost for equipment. Um, so we believe that to be

[47:50] on an annual basis 88,000 that includes a cost of $43,379

[47:57] for five years. Um, and that is for cardiac monitors that need to be

[48:01] purchased for the paramedics. Um, it's a 0% interest over a fiveyear term. So

[48:07] that 43,000 will end after a 5year we proceed over and like we have a quote

[48:12] for that that can just be accepted type thing or sorry say that again. So so

[48:16] that that's like a that's a set number like we can just sort of accept that.

[48:20] Sorry. Okay. in in the working group and preparing for all this. We went forward,

[48:25] we identified costs on the park vendor for medications, for uh we have a cost

[48:31] that we've set aside for medical directions. We have to have a medical

[48:34] director that authorized the paramedics to work underneath them. Um we have

[48:38] money set aside for training budget because paramedics have to have certain

[48:42] certifications and they have to do ongoing clinical education that has to

[48:45] be covered. Um and so with equipment, which is the monitors, with supplies um

[48:52] training, medical correction, the uh annual cost outside of payroll is

[48:58] 88,379. The on the upfitting cost is

[49:04] significantly less than all those medications up front. That's an ongoing

[49:08] utilization. So, we anticipate except for the 43, which is a a fiveyear fixed

[49:14] cost, we anticipate the startup cost to be 18 to $22,000

[49:20] um to get the annual ready to go. Again, minus the 43 379, which is a a fiveyear

[49:26] fixed. Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks.

[49:30] Yeah, I just was trying to figure out like so it's there's sort of like a

[49:33] different between an estimate and like a bid ready to be accepted, right? like so

[49:36] there there there won't be like surprises in there. I think some of the

[49:40] a lot of the supplies like Striker gave you a quote and correctly quote from

[49:44] Striker. Um we went through our medical supply company and evaluated the cost of

[49:49] the medications and we actually purposely to make sure that we didn't

[49:53] have surprises in people's budgets. We didn't take our contract pricing. We

[49:57] took their publicly available pricing which is slightly higher. not by a

[50:01] significant amount, but so there is a buffer there in case that there's a

[50:05] price hike on a specific medication, etc. Um, so we within all of our power

[50:10] and control, we don't expect anything that's out of the ordinary. Obviously,

[50:15] there are things that we can't control, but we did our best to do due diligence

[50:19] on all the costs. Thanks. That makes sense.

[50:24] Um and yes, so I think Helen has a pretty good

[50:28] handle on the costs. Then the question is for the for the first quarter we're

[50:33] assuming no reimbursements and the question is how much will reimbursements

[50:39] cover in the subsequent quarters and I been talking to Colin and very roughly I

[50:46] think we could estimate in the fourth quarter of 2025

[50:51] it'll be about half the initial quarterly payment and in the four

[50:57] quarters of 2026 it'll be about a because now you got your reimbursements

[51:02] coming in regularly and um so it's going to be much lower than that initial

[51:06] payment going forward.

[51:10] Maybe it's helpful. So the way that we came to this uh evaluation is we

[51:15] identified the number of expected billable responses. So every time the

[51:19] ambulance gets called, it doesn't always result in the ability to send a bill to

[51:23] insurance. It may be um that we don't render care. It may be that there's no

[51:27] actual patient. someone called and there's no need for our services etc. So

[51:32] we identified the total number of calls in the uh affected areas that will be a

[51:36] part of this agreement. Um we did not take into account what we call mutual

[51:40] aid which is going into other areas that need our help when their assets are

[51:44] unavailable. So we took a conservative number of incidents that we would bill

[51:49] to insurance. We took our average reimbursement and we were conservative

[51:53] with that as well. We currently bill as a BLS entity. we would bill at a higher

[51:57] rate as an ALS entity. So again, we used our conservative BLS rate and we

[52:03] identified that we believe that the total revenue from bill from billing

[52:07] insurance would be approximately $540,000.

[52:11] Um so if our for broad numbers if our annual cost is expected to be 757,000

[52:17] and our revenue is 540,000 then the projected cost shared by the

[52:23] municipalities would then be 217 instead of the original 757.

[52:29] I know that's a lot of numbers I'm having to answer question, but that

[52:32] explains the process that we utilize to get to where we where we are with our

[52:36] budget and and it also um again highlights why we want to build this

[52:41] ourselves because all the contractors that we've looked at um you know there's

[52:46] kind of set costs year-over-year and they use a chase car model which doesn't

[52:49] have the same kind of reimbursement strength that the mobile ICU model which

[52:53] we're we're hoping to build locally do does. So we we really feel like this

[52:56] will be the most cost effective one. Makes sense.

[53:02] Um great. Okay. I'll move on to uh item number

[53:07] four. Each municipality

[53:11] hereby individually agrees to make their payment to Swathmore Burough on August

[53:16] 1st, 2025 for the third calendar quarter of 2025 as shown in the AL services

[53:24] budget table and to make each subsequent quarterly payment as recalculated

[53:30] quarterly based on best available data from the fire company no later than the

[53:36] 15th day of the second month of each calendar quarter. Any

[53:41] questions? Number five. Each municipality here individually agrees to

[53:45] annually budget the necessary funds starting in 2026 to allow for quarterly

[53:50] payments to Swathmore Burough based on estimated costs to be provided by the

[53:54] fire company. And I think that's the gist of it.

[54:02] This was all uh very um helpful. I want to this is a complex document. I know

[54:08] and this is um you know kind of a complex concept I've been talking about

[54:13] it with the board for the last few meetings um even you know before then

[54:16] kind of informally um I think it maybe be helpful if we just open up for

[54:21] questions that any of the board members have and I'd be happy to answer any

[54:25] questions as you know well as any of our kind of guests who have been working

[54:29] through the working group. I will just say Max has been I mean very

[54:34] communicative at least um you know with anyone that wanted to to questions

[54:39] answered and I feel like I have pestered you and we're um you know that that it's

[54:44] it's a lot I know and um I appreciate all the work that you've put into it. I

[54:48] appreciate the work that everyone has put into this. I it's actually amazing

[54:51] to me what's been accomplished in such a short period of time. I mean, this went

[54:54] from sort of an emergency situation, which it still is, but to like there

[54:58] there is a solution. And it's it's really great that the five neighboring

[55:01] municipalities have figured out how to work together so well and so quickly.

[55:04] And um I don't have any questions now because you've answered them over the

[55:08] last month or so. So, thank you. Yep. No, I I I agree. You know, hats off to

[55:12] you, Max, and I thank our neighbors for for coming out here. I think this is a

[55:15] real model of how we can work together, and hopefully it's a model with the fire

[55:19] um study that we're undertaking. So, it's really a great thing. And like Kate

[55:22] said, I mean, this came off this happened so fast in a good way with a

[55:26] lot of work being done. Um Max has been communicative, so I feel like I have a

[55:30] good grasp of what we're doing here tonight.

[55:33] Yeah, I just wanted to say thank you to to Max and of course um our our

[55:38] neighbors. This is such an important issue. It did happen very fast. Clearly

[55:42] passion around the project kind of accelerated it. So I really appreciate

[55:47] it. I did have one question though. Mhm. So there's a lot of um accounting for

[55:53] things that happen the quarterly um installment payments etc. And I

[55:58] understand the concept of it. Who is responsible for accounting for that and

[56:03] actually moving the money around? And if there was a question regarding some of

[56:08] the information coming in that there was a challenge who who is the ultimate

[56:12] mediator? Well, I guess maybe I'll answer this

[56:16] with Colin's help. How how does that um so my understanding based on my

[56:22] conversations with Carl and Bob and the working group uh are that we need to as

[56:27] a municipality enter into an agreement with the other municipalities. We can't

[56:30] enter into an agreement directly with Swathmore's uh fire protected service.

[56:36] So the agreements are amongst the municipalities and then Swathmore

[56:39] designates fire protective service uh as the the entity that it will will be

[56:43] carrying on. So, as far as the kind of moving the money around, it would my

[56:48] understanding it would have to go from Nether Providence to Swathmore, who

[56:52] would then disperse the monies to the fire protective agency. As far as who's

[56:59] doing the um accounting and uh like the revenues and and whatnot on your end, I

[57:06] think that's probably a better question for you, but I know you have a a board

[57:08] governance and we're talking about search administration. Sure. So, uh, so

[57:12] we're an independent 501c3. Um, obviously we work closely with the

[57:16] burrow. Um, so we have a board of directors, but we will be, uh, for this

[57:21] project. And one of the line items that we didn't really talk about is, um,

[57:24] having a ALS supervisor dedicated for this. And so, one of their focuses will

[57:31] be making sure that we have monthly reports that we can provide to all the

[57:34] municipalities that are involved and then making sure that we're updating the

[57:37] table on a quarterly basis. And so um it's not a person but it will be the

[57:43] supervisor in conjunction with myself and then it'll go through our board of

[57:47] directors and then go out to all of the municipalities leadership and we can

[57:51] designate whether that's someone from the working group or to the entire

[57:54] boards. That's really up to the municipalities and how they would like

[57:57] to receive that information. I I think that that all makes sense. And

[58:02] so we we had actually discussed as a board several years ago having our

[58:07] auditor also sort of audit the fire companies and we didn't move forward

[58:10] with that. But I wonder I mean it's not something sort of to decide tonight but

[58:13] I wonder if we eventually would want to just you know if if this is going to be

[58:18] sort of an ongoing thing if if we're moving towards the um what is it the

[58:23] regional regional model whatever we're calling that. Um, so this is sort of a

[58:27] temporary gap, but like what you know, we should think if this stays in place

[58:30] for longer we should think about because it didn't seem like it was very much and

[58:33] I feel like that would actually be a good thing for everyone to sort of show

[58:35] their municipality like this is how we're moving forward and these are the

[58:38] check. I can I can share and Chris might have something to add. Um, so we again

[58:42] as an independent agency we have a financial review every year and it's um

[58:47] I'm not a finance person so bear with me. It is not a full audit, but it is a

[58:53] f there's something right below a full audit and it's called like a financial

[58:56] review or Morin, do our firehouses do that? Maybe you don't know off the top

[58:59] of our head your head. I feel like they weren't even doing that. So that maybe

[59:03] that's I mean so I so I mean we we do that as a matter of course we've had

[59:07] discussions internally with our bureau about a full audit and the the limiting

[59:12] factor for for our board has been is an increased cost. Yeah. Um, so that

[59:16] increases the budget, but we're not opposed to it in any way, shape, or

[59:19] form. And again, my pledge to all of this and throughout the working group is

[59:24] transparency is the most important thing for all of us. I don't think there's I'm

[59:27] so I'm very happy that we have this place. It's going to be a place and that

[59:30] we're all going to move forward. Just something to throw out there because I

[59:33] think, you know, that if I'm thinking through what a resident might be

[59:36] concerned about, this is a really big expense and sort of how are we making

[59:39] sure that this all sort of sorted out and there's we can all be comfortable

[59:43] just continuing moving forward with it. Yeah. and and and we're working it out

[59:47] very quickly as you know and so it's everything's moving fast. Um but we have

[59:51] had conversations about hiring a controller, keeping the funds separate.

[59:55] Um so as we move forward all of those things will happen and I'm sure it will

[1:00:00] get even better as we move along but those discussions are taking place right

[1:00:03] now. Okay, perfect. Yeah. Anybody else?

[1:00:11] Yes. I spec if if you would like to come up, I'd love to hear your thoughts. I

[1:00:17] Okay, perfect. Simple is good. So, the the first payment would be due August

[1:00:22] 1st and then there would be another quarterly payment due by the end of the

[1:00:25] year. So, there' be two in our case $75,000 payments due in 2025. So, the

[1:00:30] first payment would be 75,000 uh because that's accounting for a full quarter,

[1:00:36] right? Um, but you know it's five months and so there's going to be one full

[1:00:42] quarter and one that's twothirds of a quarter. So we can do math whatever

[1:00:45] twothirds of 75 less whatever the reimbursements we're able to collect in

[1:00:49] that first few months will be the second. Thank you. Yeah. Um I actually

[1:00:53] had some some questions for you Katie.

[1:00:58] Um I know we had been talking um about kind of what the financial flexibility

[1:01:03] that we had Nether was. Um, and I know we felt very confident that um, $100,000

[1:01:10] is doable. This is, you know, obviously a little bit higher than that, but I

[1:01:12] think you said that you were going to continue a review. So, if you could

[1:01:16] maybe comment on, you know, um, I did do another review of the budget where we

[1:01:20] are right now and the fund balance and I feel comfortable that this is

[1:01:24] manageable. I think I think the reality with our budget is that we have done a

[1:01:27] good job building our general fund over the last several years. Um, and you

[1:01:31] know, I think what was it eight years ago when Matt and I started on the

[1:01:34] board, that was not the case. So we have really um made some conservative

[1:01:38] decisions and I think something like this is sort of the exact um reason why

[1:01:42] we've done that. So this is an unbudgeted expense. It is very big but

[1:01:46] it is very necessary. So I think we will make it happen however we have to but I

[1:01:49] do think we have enough um flexibility in the general fund as we built it for

[1:01:53] almost a decade. No, you're totally right and this is kind of the emergency

[1:01:56] we were always concerned about eight years ago when we didn't have the fund

[1:01:59] balance that we do now. So absolutely why we got to do what we do. Thank you.

[1:02:03] So, I'll I just want to thank Matt and Kate for their kind of financial

[1:02:06] leadership putting us in the position where we could uh consider this. And

[1:02:10] yes, Bill, just a quick clarification in in a previous version, we were talking

[1:02:14] about only five months in 2025. Correct. But it works out better if you do it has

[1:02:20] two quarters because they be they're going to be spending money in July. They

[1:02:24] got to buy a lot of equipment. All right. So, that'll be part of the

[1:02:28] third quarter of 2025. That will be a real quarter. The payments made August

[1:02:33] 30, August 1st for that quarter. The next quarter is paid next quarterly

[1:02:37] payment is paid November 15th. Okay. For the fourth quarter of 2025. Thank you

[1:02:42] for clarifying that. And so some of these um details and final

[1:02:47] clarifications are, you know, why I've been having a sidebar with our solicitor

[1:02:51] um about what exactly to approve. We have both a resolution in front of us

[1:02:56] and an agreement. Um, and so what I was talking about with our solicitor is

[1:03:00] passing a resolution that authorizes perhaps Kate, perhaps me, whatever

[1:03:05] people want to do, uh, authorizes, uh, them to execute an EMS cost sharing

[1:03:11] agreement, which would be substantially similar to this with a few

[1:03:14] non-substantial edits to make sure that, you know, all the kind of final lines

[1:03:19] are. So, for now with financial issues, we should be checking in with Conlin

[1:03:23] just like if Katie had that question came up that was like, what's the exact

[1:03:26] amount? It would be you for now that Okay.

[1:03:30] Okay. Um are there any other questions? Okay. Um then this is a long resolution,

[1:03:38] but what I'll do is I'll introduce the top of it and then I'll read the the

[1:03:42] substantial section at the end. Um so Nether Providence Township, Delaware

[1:03:46] County, Pennsylvania, resolution number 2025-08.

[1:03:51] Resolution of the township commissioners of the township of Nether Providence,

[1:03:53] Deler County, Pennsylvania, authorizing the appropriate township officials to

[1:03:57] take any and all action to approve an intergovernmental shared services

[1:04:00] agreement for emergency medical services. There's a number of whereases

[1:04:05] including a misspelled version of PROER which we will edit. Um and then at the

[1:04:10] end now therefore be it resolved by the township commissioners of the township

[1:04:14] of Nether Provident, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, that agreement is approved

[1:04:18] as follows. The township commissioners hereby authorize uh Kate McKenzie uh to

[1:04:25] execute an EMS cost sharing agreement um which will be substantially similar to

[1:04:30] the document um in front of everyone uh labeled exhibit A. The emergency medical

[1:04:36] cost sharing agreement um will be um incorporated herein um uh

[1:04:42] as a as a reference document. Um, township manager, township staff, and

[1:04:46] president of the board of commissioners are authorized to execute any and all

[1:04:49] documents and take actions necessary for the township um to enter uh the

[1:04:54] agreement. Do I have a second? Second. Any comments or questions?

[1:05:00] Hearing none. All those in favor, please note so by saying I. I. Any opposition?

[1:05:06] And the motion passes seven up. Thank you, Gordy. Thank you guys all for I

[1:05:11] mean the fact that you're here tonight really shows how this has gone. So thank

[1:05:15] you madam madam madam president if I could or Max if I could just jump in

[1:05:19] real quick. I just wanted to thank all of you as well. Really appreciate it.

[1:05:21] It's nice to have uh fans here tonight. So

[1:05:25] Robert's our most polite because not every since since we didn't have a lot

[1:05:29] of fans we appreciate anyway.

[1:05:34] Um, so that is the meat of my agenda, but it's not the entirety of my agenda.

[1:05:37] And you are welcome to stay or you are welcome to go.

[1:05:41] Thank you.

[1:05:53] It's been a pleasure to work with all of you. Really thank

[1:05:59] Hey, thanks again.

[1:06:04] Thank you for having um Max, thanks to you as well and Kate

[1:06:08] and Matt, all you guys thanks the fabulous Moren, Kate, everyone. I

[1:06:13] couldn't do anything uh without the um we're all better off the support of the

[1:06:18] rest of the board. So, thank you all for for your trust. Um all right, so the

[1:06:22] last item on my agenda is an aqua paving contribution. I love these. I love

[1:06:26] paving roads. Everyone knows that. Uh so this is Oaknull Drive. Uh so this is

[1:06:32] just south of Matt's neighborhood, south of uh the the train tracks and sorry

[1:06:37] just a little down the hill from where we're at now. Um so Aqua is offering

[1:06:41] $150,840 for the township to perform and complete

[1:06:45] at its sole responsibility. Uh the pavement restoration which will involve

[1:06:48] a trench uh based restoration as well as some milling and overlay work. Um in

[1:06:53] consideration uh for the receipt of the contribution um the township would

[1:06:58] further agree to be responsible for supplying all necessary materials

[1:07:01] performing the installation assuming full responsibility for the work um and

[1:07:06] would release Aqua from all liability and damage arising from this work. Um so

[1:07:11] uh for the commissioners um who who don't recall or for anyone uh who's kind

[1:07:16] of listening in from home or reviewing minutes you know 10 years hence um it's

[1:07:20] become the kind of recent practice of the township rather than have Aqua

[1:07:25] complete the resurfacing work um as they have historically done. uh it's been the

[1:07:30] practice to accept payment in lie of because when we've been able to put it

[1:07:34] out to bid, we've been able to get the same amount of work done with a little

[1:07:37] extra that we've been able to uh kind of redistribute to other road resurfacing

[1:07:41] projects. So, this is a continuation of that uh recent practice. And it's

[1:07:46] projected based on the numbers I have in front of me uh to cost the township

[1:07:50] $130,000 to complete the work. So, that would be uh you know $20,000 that we're

[1:07:55] then able to um supply to other road projects. Is that is that curb to curb?

[1:08:00] I'll let Charles review some details. Is that So Aqua's going to give us 150 and

[1:08:05] it cost 130 to repave curve to Yeah. Okay. All right.

[1:08:12] That's a pretty pretty good bid. Oh, that's an Sure. Sorry. Um, did they tear

[1:08:19] up the concrete gutters on that street or just the academy? I believe

[1:08:25] Okay. Okay.

[1:08:28] Um, so you know the question I pose uh to the board, does the township want to

[1:08:32] accept this offer? It would certainly be in line with fast practice. Um, and if

[1:08:36] so, we'll need to uh put a bid package together and advertise. Otherwise, Aqua

[1:08:40] will pave it in late July. I mean, yes, I assume such. Do we need to have a vote

[1:08:46] or is this the general kind of acclamation? Okay. Um then I move uh the

[1:08:54] Nether Providence uh accept payment from Aqua in lie of uh the resurfacing work

[1:09:00] for the Oakno Drive project um to the amount of $150,840.

[1:09:07] Uh do I have a second? Second. Um any comments or questions? All those in

[1:09:12] favor so by saying I. I. Any opposition? Seeing none, the motion passes 70. Uh so

[1:09:20] look forward to reviewing uh those bids at an upcoming meeting and I turn it

[1:09:24] back to you, President McKenzie. Thank you. And Commissioner Barnes has some

[1:09:27] time constraints and has asked to go next. So we'll turn it over to her for

[1:09:31] community health and environment report. Thank you. I apologize. I have to leave

[1:09:35] early, but I do have a couple things. Uh I have some EAC updates. They sent a

[1:09:40] balloon awareness blurp. So I will read that for you. Um, mass balloon releases

[1:09:46] may seem harmless, but they have serious consequences for animals in the

[1:09:51] environment. Once released, all balloons eventually fall back to the ground,

[1:09:55] waterways, or into trees where they become dangerous litter. Wildlife like

[1:09:59] turtles and birds often mistake balloon fragments for food or become entangled

[1:10:03] in attached strings and ribbons, leading to injury or death. Balloons are among

[1:10:08] the most lethal types of plastic pollution for wildlife. Farm animals are

[1:10:13] also at risk. Balloon debris that lands in fields and pastures can be

[1:10:17] accidentally ingested by grazing animals such as cows, sheep, and ghosts,

[1:10:22] potentially leading to the internal blockages, illness, or death. Balloon uh

[1:10:28] ribbons and strings can also pose entanglement hazards in yards or on

[1:10:31] farmland. Please think twice before releasing balloons into the environment.

[1:10:37] That's that. And also from the last uh EAC meeting, there was talk of interest

[1:10:44] to have a community garden. Um we're looking at places that it potentially

[1:10:51] could go. It needs to go somewhere where there where there's water access and all

[1:10:54] that. So it's it's something for the future to think about. And uh

[1:11:01] next up, the other group is the historical commission. Um we are looking

[1:11:06] for someone to join the commission and to chair it. Right now we have some

[1:11:10] people who are in it. Uh we tried to ramp it up uh earlier last year but

[1:11:15] unfortunately nobody wanted to chair and it's not really something that I can do

[1:11:20] myself. So uh if you're interested in history and want to work with the

[1:11:26] township, please, you know, let us know. We'd be

[1:11:30] happy to have you. Next up, we have the summer camp. All of

[1:11:36] our counselors and volunteers are ready to go and all staff positions have been

[1:11:40] filled. We are still accepting camper registrations. For more information or

[1:11:44] to register, please contact the township office. And my last item is about family

[1:11:50] funday. Uh we are accepting vendor applications. To join us for family

[1:11:55] funday on Saturday, October 11th. For more information, please visit our

[1:11:59] Facebook page. And if you have questions, you can contact Mona Price at

[1:12:03] mpriceprovidence.org or me at sfarnesprovidence.org.

[1:12:09] And that is the end of my report. Thank you. Thank you. And certainly excuse if

[1:12:14] you need to run. Um I am going to go next because I also have time to

[1:12:18] straight. My son is a hockey unit and it starts at 10 o'clock tonight which I

[1:12:20] find ridiculous. Um it's past my bedtime. So I am going

[1:12:27] to start with the Bills list. Um we have somewhat of an abbreviated list tonight

[1:12:33] which works out. Um we'll start with the AP bills list. There are sever several

[1:12:39] aqua charges. These are our hydrants. The charges for uh the month of May. Our

[1:12:44] recycling BNL recycling. Katie, how are we doing with our recycling contract?

[1:12:48] Have you compared that recently? Our charges.

[1:12:54] Oh, awesome. Yeah. So, I I went to an event um this weekend and um one of the

[1:13:01] members of the EAC had mentioned that we asked them to review because they should

[1:13:04] be looking at our actual recycling versus an average. Yeah. So, that's very

[1:13:09] exciting. I'm glad that that the EAC was able to work that out. Yeah, that was

[1:13:13] something we were discussing at the last meeting. It was very interesting. Yeah,

[1:13:16] it's it's great that they are finding all these things. Yeah. All right. Well,

[1:13:19] that's really great news. Um and so that will go back into the to the

[1:13:24] recycling fund and be taken to into consideration when we're setting rates

[1:13:28] for uh you know the coming years. Next charges is our medical and dental

[1:13:34] insurance um for the insurance provider divot. Um on page

[1:13:41] is that two? No, three top page three. um

[1:13:49] several property tax credits for our volunteer firefighters. Um on page

[1:13:54] three,

[1:13:58] um Lanzetta landscaping top of page four for the fence at the public works yard,

[1:14:04] which looks really great. At the public works is really looking wonderful. It's

[1:14:07] I'm really impressed. Um and

[1:14:15] On to page five. Abeneio. No, I'm probably not saying

[1:14:19] that right. Contractors. The Henry Lane drainage improvements. Charles, how are

[1:14:23] we doing with that project? Correct.

[1:14:29] I would say in the next

[1:14:35] Okay.

[1:14:40] Okay. All right. Well, that's great news. Um and then

[1:14:45] on some several more property tax credits for volunteer

[1:14:50] firefighters and um a charge for Whitmer assoc and associates for new handguns

[1:14:56] for the police department. Um on to the interim bills list.

[1:15:04] Um a charge on page one for pilla construction. That's

[1:15:10] public works. Was that the lift? What was that charge for? About $8,000 per

[1:15:16] pill. Do we know else? The roof. Okay.

[1:15:22] So, we're would this be a question for you guys or

[1:15:26] Charles? How are we doing with like the charges generally for public works

[1:15:28] garage? Are we pretty much finished with all the expenses there?

[1:15:34] I I believe we're just waiting for the um

[1:15:40] installation and the finalization of the um cameras. Okay. Um I still I think

[1:15:45] we're still waiting for some charges from that and then everything should be

[1:15:49] completed, but they're installed. We're just waiting for charges for them. Yes.

[1:15:52] Okay. All right. That's good. Um and then on page two, the traffic safety

[1:15:59] store. Um traffic supplies paid with the divot grant.

[1:16:05] Okay. Which ones were those? Were those the cross?

[1:16:09] Oh, okay. Gotcha. So, just general supplies that we needed.

[1:16:15] All right. And there wasn't anything out of the ordinary on the AP list, AP bills

[1:16:22] list, but we can look through that briefly. a couple municipal um like

[1:16:27] uniform charges um some minor items

[1:16:33] um for use at the public works or for the at the tonic building some

[1:16:38] landscaping supplies um an accreditation charge

[1:16:43] some very minor items on here this month um

[1:16:52] all right I will make a motion to approve Approve the AP bills list in the

[1:16:55] amount of $349,3669.

[1:16:59] The AP interim bills list in the amount of $25,83.34.

[1:17:05] And the AP card list in the amount of $35,897.

[1:17:10] Can I get a second? Second. Second. Any comments or questions? All in favor,

[1:17:14] vote by saying I. I. I. Any opposed? That motion carries 70.

[1:17:19] And it's okay. And Matt and I are going to sign this

[1:17:23] and then I am going to turn it over to you.

[1:17:27] Okay.

[1:17:37] Thanks.

[1:17:40] All right. So, I guess maybe you can finish the um find

[1:18:10] four out of seven. Come on, two.

[1:18:15] Enjoy

[1:18:25] your happy boys.

[1:18:35] All right, we keep rocking and rolling. All right. Uh,

[1:18:41] the next item on the agenda is a ratification of a contract with TAR

[1:18:45] recycling. It's come to our attention that the Pennsylvania Department of

[1:18:48] Environmental Protection requires a signed contract with PAR recycling or

[1:18:53] our e-recycling collection bin at the public works garage. Though PAR does not

[1:18:57] charge the township a fee to collect the contents of the bin, a contract is still

[1:19:01] required to ensure the township isn't saddled with recycling that we can't

[1:19:04] process if PAR decides not to continue pickup. The contract underwent legal

[1:19:09] review before being signed by the assistant manager. It needs to be

[1:19:12] ratified by our board of commissioners. Um, all right. So, we just need to vote

[1:19:17] on this and apparently there's an agreement that will be signed. Um, so I

[1:19:22] will move to ratify the contract with PAR recycling with respect to the

[1:19:27] e-recycling collection bin at the public works garage.

[1:19:32] I get a second. Seconded. Any comments or questions?

[1:19:37] Uh, hearing none. All those in favor, please vote by saying I. I. Any opposed?

[1:19:41] That carries five

[1:19:45] 50 5-0. Uh, the next item on the agenda is the

[1:19:49] healing the plant tree grant. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is offering

[1:19:53] healing the planet grants funded by the giant company, which aims to invest in

[1:19:57] tree plantings across the company's operating areas in Pennsylvania. A total

[1:20:01] of $112,000 in funding will be awarded to taxexempt organizations for tree

[1:20:05] planting projects this year. Projects need to be shovel ready and include tree

[1:20:09] planting and direct costs relating to tree planting. Uh KPB is accepting

[1:20:14] applications for grants up to $4,000 through 4 p.m. July 1 of this year. No

[1:20:19] matches required. The planting and grant paperwork must be completed before

[1:20:24] December 10, 2025. Um, so the action for the board this

[1:20:28] evening is a vote to authorize approval to apply for the grant. Um, this seems

[1:20:32] like a no-brainer to me. So I will move to apply for the grant for tree planting

[1:20:39] funded by the giant company uh in the amount of $4,000.

[1:20:45] Make a second. Second. Sorry. I have a I guess a a question. Um, yes, let's get

[1:20:50] money for trees. I'm all for that. Uh, is there a particular park or corridor

[1:20:54] you guys had in mind? I assume if we get the grant then we could decide. The

[1:20:57] applicant was just um the EAC or I'm sorry the Shade Tree Commission is the

[1:21:02] one who asked us to apply for this grant and they are hoping to restore some of

[1:21:06] the trees that were um taken down in the storm over at Galie Park. Oh, okay. All

[1:21:12] right. Thank you. Um okay. Any other comments or questions? Hearing none. All

[1:21:18] those in favor, please vote by saying I. I. I. Any opposed? All right. That

[1:21:23] carries. 5 Z. Let's see. We need to now go back to the parks and open space

[1:21:30] committee report with Commissioner Henry and public finance. Thank you. You got

[1:21:35] it. Skipping around today. I'm gonna try to be quick, but I do want to say I have

[1:21:40] two things to report on. One's a parks update and one's a parks committee

[1:21:44] update. Um, we often hear um a mixture of of good feedback and negative

[1:21:52] feedback about the parks and I just wanted to take a moment to dwell on the

[1:21:57] positive um because there is a lot of work that goes into what people enjoy

[1:22:03] around this community and I think sometimes it it's people are not aware

[1:22:09] of it takes an army. So, big thanks to everybody here. Of course, township

[1:22:14] manager, the assistant township manager, Charles, um the public works department

[1:22:19] has been just killing themselves trying to do a lot of work around the

[1:22:23] community. I think sometimes that maybe we're not communicating out well and

[1:22:28] everything they're doing. So, I just wanted to take an opportunity to thank

[1:22:31] everyone and and kind of end this on a positive note. Um but just specifically

[1:22:36] around the parks updates for those who don't know um over the past two weeks

[1:22:41] there's been significant progress with the parks projects. The walking path and

[1:22:44] picnic grove at Martha Burton Park have been completed. Um there's still some

[1:22:49] cleanup to be done around that path but all the material had materials have been

[1:22:52] put in place. The four square area has been dug out and stoned in preparation

[1:22:57] for paving. um at Sappovitz started to work digging out the path and placing

[1:23:03] stone in the excavated area. Plan to continue working on the path at the park

[1:23:08] this week and into next week. Weather looks good. Uh with all the rain we've

[1:23:13] received in the last two weeks since we installed the burm at Gouley, we've been

[1:23:16] able to see that it is working to keep the water and screening off the turf

[1:23:19] field, which is great news. We plan to make further improvements in the water

[1:23:23] management issues at Gully when the crew is working there for the grant project.

[1:23:27] Um and lastly, there's been some um a lot of great activity through the parks

[1:23:32] committee and there's some love our parks events uh that are being planned.

[1:23:36] Uh the committee is planning to host an event at each of the township parks

[1:23:40] through the end of the year. Uh the first event will be a ribbon cutting

[1:23:44] ceremony at Furnace ceremony at Furnest Park on Saturday, June 21st. The second

[1:23:50] is a guided bird walk at Houston Park on Saturday, June 28th um hosted by the

[1:23:55] bird town committee and additional information becomes available about

[1:23:59] upcoming parks events. We'll update the board of commissioners and share details

[1:24:03] of the township website and Facebook page. And I would encourage the

[1:24:07] commissioners to distribute that information to their words. So with

[1:24:10] that, I conclude my report. Thank you. Um, and with that, I'll pass it along to

[1:24:15] Commissioner Okconor for the infrastructure and public works

[1:24:18] committee report. Thank you very much, Mr. Garson. And, uh, with that said, I

[1:24:24] just have a brief update on the public works. Um, the tension vehicles and

[1:24:27] equipment were have been maintained or continue to be maintained over the past

[1:24:31] couple of weeks. In accordance with the maintenance schedule, in addition to

[1:24:34] that, the new F550 has been put into service for the crew

[1:24:38] for use. Over the past couple of weeks, crews have been out fixing storm inlets

[1:24:43] on Governor's Drive, cleaning inlets, and cutting brush away from signs and

[1:24:48] roadways around the township. Crews have also started repairing stop signs or

[1:24:53] stop signs, stop sign, stop bars, excuse me, around the township. As part of our

[1:24:59] summer painting, the public works department plans to continue doing the

[1:25:03] work on the stop bars and crosswalks throughout the remainder of the summer.

[1:25:08] There have also been crews working on sanitary sewer maintenance and

[1:25:12] investigating a sewer issue that was found to exist on Hemlock Road. The

[1:25:16] public work crews public works crews have also made multiple mulch deliveries

[1:25:21] and also have bagged leaf pickups and have had bulk tra and additionally uh

[1:25:28] worked on the bulk trash event last weekend. And uh to echo what Beth said

[1:25:32] uh we all appreciate very much the work that they do. And I wanted to I was

[1:25:36] actually going to say something. I wanted to thank just Moren and Katie and

[1:25:39] all you guys. You I mean I just like I try not to bug you guys during the week,

[1:25:43] but I can just throw an email out there and you know if I just wait like a day

[1:25:46] or so like or maybe even a few hours, you never know. It's whatever. You know,

[1:25:49] it could be sometimes it's so fast I don't even see it. Um because I get busy

[1:25:53] and I don't even notice it. But anyway, it's really nice. I really appreciate it

[1:25:56] a lot. Chief obviously does the same thing. Charles as well. I know you

[1:26:00] chimed in on something this week. So, I really appreciate it because uh like I

[1:26:04] tell people, if anyone can make me look good, they must be doing a fabulous job.

[1:26:07] So, so thank you. I appreciate it.

[1:26:12] Thank you. Uh now up is Commissioner Carbone for the building and zoning

[1:26:15] committee report. You so the next zoning hearing board meeting will be this

[1:26:20] upcoming Monday, June 15th. There are four applications on the agenda. The

[1:26:26] first is at 0 South Providence Road. We are appealing the township denial of

[1:26:32] their zoning permit application to construct a single family detached

[1:26:36] dwelling to be operated as a personal care assisted living facility which is

[1:26:42] comprising of 16 beds for elderly people with disabilities to allow the proposed

[1:26:47] use under the American with Disabilities and the Fair Housing Act.

[1:26:53] The second application is 600 South Providence Road, the Spring Haven Club,

[1:26:58] requesting a variance to install an additional pole for the netting.

[1:27:04] Third is 910 True Penny Lane, requesting variances to permit the construction of

[1:27:11] multiple one-story and twotory additions and a one-story attached garage to the

[1:27:16] property. And the final is five Morgan Lane requesting a variance to construct

[1:27:22] a 305 305 square foot deck with a covered porch. And that concludes my

[1:27:28] report. Thank you. Uh Morgan, just a procedural question for the next zoning

[1:27:31] board meeting. I know that some of the um applicants at the next meeting on

[1:27:36] Monday, June 16, were at the prior meeting and and they didn't get reached

[1:27:39] just because um the one application took so long. Correct. To the extent that

[1:27:43] that the continuation of that application is going to take an extended

[1:27:47] period of time, do you think we could get the other people on the agenda first

[1:27:50] just so just to make sure that everybody gets through? No. No. The um the zero

[1:27:55] Providence Road, they heard all the testimony for the hearing and closed the

[1:27:59] case. Okay. Uh the board members um just have to rule had they their Thank you.

[1:28:06] Okay. They just had to do their final ruling and vote and that will be taken

[1:28:10] first. um no testimony will be heard for that application and then we will

[1:28:16] continue to move straight on to the rest. Yeah, I just wanted to make sure

[1:28:19] um you know we get through everything. So that perfect. Thank you. We have to

[1:28:23] get through everything with our restraints with the um MPC. Right. All

[1:28:27] right. Um well with that I'll pass it to you for your report

[1:28:32] for me. Yeah. All right. I just have um one event um

[1:28:37] over at Delaware County Rose Tree Park. There is going to be an electronics

[1:28:42] recycling collection event on Wednesday, June 18th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Um

[1:28:49] there's um registration is required. We're going to be posting the flyer um

[1:28:54] on our website and Facebook page. So, we that'll have all the information for the

[1:28:59] registration process and um cost for some items have a cost, some do not, but

[1:29:04] all that will be detailed on the flyer that we will um it's in the

[1:29:07] commissioner's packets, but we will also be posting it on our website and

[1:29:11] Facebook page.

[1:29:14] That it awesome. Um all right, so we will now adjourn this evening's meeting.

[1:29:19] The next commissioner's meeting is our combined meeting on July 24th. See you

[1:29:24] then. Good night. Anything

[1:29:30] for tech? There is I don't I guess second I'll

[1:29:35] turn off the record questions.

BOC Meeting 6.12.25 Audio Only

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