[0:25] Hello, and welcome to the September 2nd council meeting.
[0:33] First item is the approval of minutes
[0:39] for the council meeting on July 1st,
[0:44] 2026. Do I have a motion?
[0:46] So moved.
[0:47] And a second?
[0:48] Second.
[0:51] All in favor?
[0:53] Aye.
[0:54] Aye.
[0:54] Aye. Any opposed?
[0:56] It passes.
[1:02] Okay.
[1:04] Next up is public comment for items not on the
[1:10] agenda.
[1:13] Please. Oh, and just noting that it's now stated on our agenda that we have a
[1:18] three-minute limit.
[1:21] Steve?
[1:22] Yes.
[1:23] Good evening. My name is Wendy Hunsicker, 51 Oriole Avenue
[1:30] in Lima.
[1:32] I just wanted to make a quick announcement.
[1:36] You've seen me up here before promoting Trewood Senior Living.
[1:40] I am no longer employed there. I'm back with Piazza Dealership, so if anybody's
[1:45] interested in a car, I might know a guy.
[1:49] But I am still involved with Treewood Senior Living, um, and we are
[1:55] having our carnival coming up on October 3rd, 2026.
[2:02] This is a car show with a carnival theme, small
[2:06] midway with food, fun games, live music, and the
[2:12] Delco Cruisers come with about 20 custom cars.
[2:19] So I just wanted to put that out there, invite everyone to Treewood for our
[2:23] carnival, again, on Saturday, October 3rd, from 1:30 to
[2:29] 3:30 in the afternoon.
[2:32] Um, another note, uh, the township formed their senior citizens advisory committee.
[2:38] We had our first meet and greet. Another member of the committee is here tonight,
[2:44] Claire.
[2:46] So we just had our first meet and greet to discuss kind of what we hope to
[2:53] do for the community as a senior citizens advisory committee.
[2:58] Our first formal meeting will be in November, first or second week of
[3:03] November. So we're really hoping to figure out a way
[3:08] to reach out to the community. If you have senior
[3:14] neighbors living alone, they may need some resources.
[3:18] Get the word to them or to us that we can maybe help them out in
[3:24] some ways. Right. Thank you.
[3:27] Thank you.
[3:32] Anyone else for public comment?
[3:35] Thank you. Moving on to reports. First off is the chair's report.
[3:43] Wanted to pass along that the township has received an extension from the school
[3:49] district on the K-1 Center for the application through November
[3:54] 21st, 2026. And the next planning
[4:00] commission meeting is scheduled to review that application
[4:05] next week, Tuesday, September 8th at 6:30 in the lower
[4:11] level of the student union building over at Penn State Brandywine.
[4:19] That is it for my report.
[4:23] There was a committee meeting. The finance committee did meet.
[4:27] Yeah. Yes, the finance committee met briefly before this meeting.
[4:31] We discussed some real estate news within the township
[4:37] and our upcoming budget approval process and calendar.
[4:43] Oops. Excuse me. Thank you.
[4:46] On to the manager's report. Mr. Assosas.
[4:50] Before I do that... I'm sorry, I was doing something else.
[4:54] Were we able to adopt the minutes?
[4:57] We did.
[4:57] Yes.
[4:58] Yes.
[5:02] We're just cruising along.
[5:05] Sorry about that.
[5:09] The township has its annual food truck event scheduled on Thursday, September 17th
[5:14] at Longview Park. It's from 4:00 to 8:00 PM. Right now, we have five food trucks.
[5:19] We're looking to get some more, and Parks and Rec Department will have some
[5:23] activities for kids and some music.
[5:27] Uh, the township's codes and permits staff, they've been working diligently over
[5:32] the past two months to implement our new online payment software, excuse me, our
[5:37] online permit software. We do have tentative go-live date of October 13th, so we're
[5:43] all looking forward to that. Folks will be able to-- Contractors will be able to
[5:47] fill out all their applications online instead of filling out paper applications,
[5:51] which is currently what we're doing.
[5:55] In that regards, we are still looking for citizens' photos.
[6:00] Anything that you think represents Middletown Township.
[6:02] It could be family, it could be events, it could be scenery.
[6:07] We would like to put that on the new codes website homepage.
[6:11] So best way to do that is use your camera, phone camera with a pano.
[6:17] Take a pano picture and you can send it to the township, and we'll gladly
[6:23] put that on the codes page.
[6:28] One other item that the sewer authority will be televising the sewer lines in
[6:32] Riddlewood during September. They're just making sure as part of their infiltration
[6:37] and inflow program, that they will be making sure there's no cracks or
[6:44] blockages in the lines. And the work will be taking place during the hours of 8:00
[6:48] AM and 3:30 PM, and they will be
[6:53] putting notices out for what areas of the
[6:58] subdivision they'll be doing.
[7:03] No, that's my report.
[7:06] Thank you. And do we have anything-
[7:10] Yeah
[7:10] ...from state police? Yep.
[7:13] So the Pennsylvania State Police,
[7:16] just to fill in for Trooper Yen. We had
[7:21] 598 calls for service, so that is a little down.
[7:25] August is usually a little slower month, and our crashes were down for the month,
[7:31] 31 reportable crashes
[7:35] and eight non-reportables. So got some good news there.
[7:39] Less motor vehicle accidents.
[7:42] He's going to attempt to be with us
[7:46] hopefully later this month. Well, he's got called.
[7:49] So I do not have fire chief's report since we gave one last
[7:55] meeting. That will be at the next meeting.
[7:58] Just one update that I may get the engineer to also weigh in on is we
[8:04] do have
[8:06] energy transfer. We'll be conducting pipe inspections, which is called a smart
[8:12] pig inline s-inline inspections on
[8:19] their lines there along,
[8:22] in the area of Glenwood Elementary.
[8:25] So right away, as you well know, there was an ordinance a couple years ago that was
[8:31] put in place that no work preventive maintenance or anything will occur there
[8:36] during daylight, during daytime hours when school is in session.
[8:40] This is preventative maintenance. This is what we want to see happen.
[8:44] They inspect all those lines there, and that will occur, I believe Eric starting
[8:49] September eighth.
[8:50] Uh, yes, I believe that's correct.
[8:52] September eighth, and that work will be from seven PM to 5:00 AM.
[8:57] We did this last summer further down Panel Road, with very minimal
[9:03] disturbance to the residents, but I wanna make everybody aware that this will occur
[9:07] again obviously
[9:10] This is a good thing that they do their thing, but that'll be for six nights coming
[9:14] up here, our 11th permit meeting starting September 8th.
[9:19] Is there anything else, Vince?
[9:22] No. That's all I have. Thank you. On to the engineer's report. Mr. Sheka.
[9:28] Hi. Good evening, council,
[9:30] and residents. Things are a little bit slow, but we do have some activity, as I
[9:36] reported a couple weeks back at our park project on Lenai Road, Lenai Park project.
[9:42] So I thought we'd do just a very brief show and tell.
[9:49] The manager has some pictures up on the screen now that show kind of what things
[9:53] look like there. And again, this is really just more for your perspective, for
[9:58] those of you who can't make it out there.
[10:01] This just gives you a sort of view of what things look like.
[10:04] This is last week, or early last week, or perhaps, the end of the prior
[10:10] week. This shows the trees that were cleared out of the area that, if you're
[10:14] familiar with the park, if you're standing in the parking lot looking down into the
[10:18] park, there's a wooded area on the left-hand side that adjoins the properties on
[10:23] the rear of the properties on Lenai Road. That's where these trees were located.
[10:28] So that's the view without the trees.
[10:32] That's the pile of trees that were chipped from that area.
[10:38] Just to give you a perspective on the size of the pile and the heavy equipment in
[10:42] the background.
[10:44] This was from this morning,
[10:48] and I don't know if you could zoom out a little bit, Vincent, on that a little bit.
[10:51] Can that zoom out? Yep.
[10:56] That worked? Yeah. Maybe one more. Can it go down anymore?
[11:04] There you go. So this kind of
[11:07] shows the area where they're building the detention basin.
[11:12] It's very early stages of the project, it's a little boring right now if you like
[11:16] dirt work like I do. It's exciting to me, but here's another one.
[11:21] This is the view of the infiltration basin, which by the way, is working great.
[11:26] There has not been a drop of water that has come off this property since all those
[11:29] trees were cleared. It's actually hard to believe. It's almost unbelievable.
[11:33] But the dirt's really absorbing the water, and the contractor's doing a great job
[11:38] to keep the water on the property. Haven't had any issues with the conservation
[11:42] district. And then this is this morning after that heavy rainfall last night, and
[11:47] you can see there's very little water in the basin, which kind of wraps around to
[11:51] the left side of the picture. So that's all I got.
[11:54] I think that's all we have, right, Vince, for tonight? It is.
[11:57] That's all we got for tonight, but, um, I think the next time I report back to you,
[12:01] we'll have a lot better photos and more progress to report.
[12:05] And, uh, I think you'll start to see how things are taking shape.
[12:09] So that's all I have for tonight.
[12:12] Great.
[12:12] If anybody has any questions, I'm always here to answer them as well.
[12:18] All right. Thank you. Thank you.
[12:20] Yes, thank you. Next item is the public hearing for the amendment of the
[12:26] Darlington Valley PRD plan.
[12:30] Thanks, Mr. Chairman. At this time, we will adjourn this meeting and adjourn into
[12:34] the public hearing on this application of Andrea Scheller for a PRD
[12:40] or Planned Residential Development Plan Amendment pursuant to Section
[12:44] 706.3 of the municipality's planning code.
[12:49] Uh, just by way of background, um, the Darlington Valley, uh,
[12:55] PRD was approved by Resolution 1953, so I'm assuming back
[13:01] in 1993. So at that point in time, the entirety of that
[13:06] development, pursuant to it being a planned residential development, was approved
[13:12] as essentially one plan. So unlike a situation where you get plan approvals
[13:17] for one property here, one property there, sort of all of the properties were taken
[13:23] into consideration as being one large property, uh, for purposes of
[13:29] a planned development. And that's usually done in a way to offset the development
[13:35] with additional open space here or there and gives more flexibility as that
[13:38] development, um, is actually then developed.
[13:43] The downside of that is then whenever there needs to be a change to that plan to a
[13:47] particular property, the entirety of that plan needs to be amended because, again,
[13:52] one property is part of the larger plan, and that's what's bringing us here
[13:58] today. Uh, but that amendment of the plan according to the municipalities planning
[14:02] code must be done pursuant to a public hearing after due notice has been given.
[14:07] Uh, I guess at this time I'll ask Michelle if you'd like to maybe, I guess, come up
[14:11] to the podium, uh, just in case. The court board, I think, will be in a better
[14:17] position to hear you. But at the beginning of this hearing, I do have a few
[14:21] exhibits that I will mark. The first exhibit,
[14:26] T or Township Exhibit One is the proof of notice of
[14:32] this hearing in the Delaware County Daily Times, which was published on August 14th
[14:37] and August 21st, 2026. Township Exhibit Two, or T2, is the
[14:43] proof of mailing, um, to the impacted neighboring property owners
[14:49] of five properties listed and proof of mail receipts that were provided by the
[14:54] applicant. Township Exhibit Three is going to be the application
[14:59] itself by Miss Scheller. Township Exhibit Four is going to be the proposed plan for
[15:05] the amendment that is on display for counsel at this time, just to understand what
[15:09] is being presented. And Township Exhibit Five is a letter of support or consent by
[15:14] the Darlington Valley Homeowners Association, where they state that they
[15:20] believe it's reasonable and it will have no negative repercussions for this
[15:25] community. Um,
[15:30] as the applicant in this matter, uh, I will turn it over to Ms.
[15:35] Scheller in a second just to briefly explain to the board what she's hoping to do.
[15:41] By its understanding, technically it's constructing a swimming pool into the side
[15:47] and rear yard setbacks of your property at 22 Stephen Drive. Is that correct?
[15:50] That's correct, yes.
[15:52] And you submitted a plan, and that's the plan that I've marked as
[15:58] Township Exhibits Four. Correct?
[16:00] Correct.
[16:02] You had that plan reviewed by township staff?
[16:04] I did.
[16:05] And you've discussed your plan with your neighbors?
[16:08] I did.
[16:09] And you've discussed it and obtained approval from the homeowners association that
[16:13] you're a part of?
[16:14] Yes, I did.
[16:15] And it's your understanding that homeowners association, uh, is sort of the
[16:20] association that makes up that planned residential development? Is that correct?
[16:25] Correct.
[16:25] Um, do you believe that this amendment of the plan is consistent with the
[16:31] efficient development and preservation of the entire planned residential
[16:34] development?
[16:35] I do.
[16:37] Do you have any reason to believe this adversely affects either the enjoyment of
[16:41] the land abutting or across the street from the planned residential
[16:47] development?
[16:48] I do not.
[16:52] Uh, and do you have any more information that you'd like to provide the board at
[16:56] this time?
[16:57] I feel like it's very clear, unless I missed something.
[17:02] Um, I feel like the most important thing was making sure my immediate neighbors
[17:07] were okay with a
[17:09] new pool going in, um, and changing the backyard.
[17:13] I'm glad that they are, and the three neighbors across the street are.
[17:18] I feel like it's
[17:20] very clear.
[17:23] Before we proceed any further, is there anybody here in the public that's wishing
[17:26] to obtain standing at this hearing?
[17:31] Hearing and seeing none, um, any other testimony or exhibits you'd like to present
[17:36] for the hearing?
[17:38] I feel complete in what I've shared.
[17:40] Thank you. Does counsel have any questions for the applicant?
[17:45] Hey.
[17:47] Yes, if you wouldn't mind.
[17:52] Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you've produced here is true to the
[17:58] best of your knowledge and understanding? I do. Well...
[18:01] So Ms. Scheller, those questions that I asked you, if I were to ask-- Scheller, I'm
[18:04] sorry. If I were to ask those questions again now that you're under oath, would all
[18:08] your answers be the same?
[18:09] They would be the same.
[18:11] Thank you. Please have a seat just in case you're still-
[18:13] Thank you.
[18:14] At this time, we'll see if there's any public comment.
[18:17] Does the public have any comments on this application
[18:22] Hearing and seeing none, if there are no other questions or matters for the board,
[18:26] we will close this public hearing.
[18:28] This matter is now in a position to be voted upon by council,
[18:35] and it is later on the agenda for consideration of approval of that modification of
[18:40] the PRD. So thank you.
[18:48] Okay. Thank you. Onto old business,
[18:53] the Resolution 2026-24 Ratification of the 2026 Deicing
[18:59] Salt Contract. Do I have a motion?
[19:02] So moved.
[19:03] And a second?
[19:05] Second.
[19:06] Thank you. Mr. Soskis, can you write the comment here about the-- There were
[19:12] some details discussed at the last meeting.
[19:15] This is basically a housekeeping item.
[19:17] Council reviewed the bids, verbally accepted the bids at the last meeting, but in
[19:23] order to comply with the joint bid with the other municipalities,
[19:29] all of the municipalities must do a resolution affirming that.
[19:34] So this basically is in writing what council approved at your last
[19:39] meeting.
[19:42] Thank you. Any questions from counsel? Any questions from the public?
[19:48] All in favor?
[19:49] Aye.
[19:50] Aye.
[19:50] Any opposed? Motion passes.
[19:55] Moving on. Next item is the item that we just had the public hearing for.
[20:02] Resolution 2026-25 Consideration of Approval for Modification of the PDR
[20:08] of Burlington Valley. Do I have a motion?
[20:12] So moved.
[20:13] Thank you. And a second?
[20:14] Second.
[20:15] Thank you.
[20:17] Okay. Do we have any questions or comments from counsel on
[20:23] this?
[20:24] It seems very straightforward, but they did a ton of due diligence.
[20:28] If the HOA approved it and their neighbors approved it, I've got no concerns.
[20:36] I think we're all in agreement.
[20:37] Okay. Any questions from the public?
[20:42] All in favor?
[20:43] Aye.
[20:44] Aye.
[20:44] Any opposed? Motion passes.
[20:51] Moving on to workshop items. Presentation
[20:57] of the 2019 Bond Issue Refinancing.
[21:02] So this is with
[21:05] Jamie Schlessinger of TFM Financial Advisors.
[21:10] Yes. Thank you very much.
[21:13] I think everyone should have a copy of my presentation.
[21:15] Mm-hmm.
[21:16] I'm happy to answer any questions, but before I get started, I have a couple of
[21:21] positive news to describe related to this.
[21:24] So first, when I'm in this business, I work with local governments throughout the
[21:29] Commonwealth, so my role is to serve as a fiduciary to the townships when you
[21:33] consider debt issuance. Uh, this business, we do things like build new buildings
[21:38] and renovate properties and things of that nature.
[21:41] So I got here a little earlier today, and this particular issue is tied to the
[21:45] library renovation as well as the financing associated with the tax
[21:51] side of the renovations to the Wawa train station, which surrounds it.
[21:55] It was probably my favorite transaction I worked on over the last decade because it
[21:59] really did a lot of great things for our community.
[22:02] So getting here a little bit earlier and seeing what has been done, so kudos to the
[22:06] township for what you did. Then secondarily, and probably more important, we're
[22:10] going to talk about this refinancing and potentially borrowing some new money for
[22:13] some additional renovations tied to the buildings that you have.
[22:17] The good news is, uh, your township has done a fantastic job where we've gone
[22:21] through the credit rating process through Standard & Poor's, and we're pleased to
[22:25] announce that the township was upgraded to a double A plus credit rating, which
[22:30] means that, uh, because of the strong financial position, the work that's being
[22:35] done by the council as well as the administration, um, Standard & Poor's felt that
[22:40] you're doing quite well, and they increased your credit rating, which means that
[22:43] you'll get better interest rates when you borrow funds in the future.
[22:47] Uh, the best you can be is triple A. This is one notch below the best you can be.
[22:52] It's higher than the US government, as usually I like to tell people.
[22:55] Uh, and a very strong credit rating for a township of this size.
[22:59] So kudos to you, and we're looking forward to continuing that progress going
[23:04] forward. So I'll briefly touch on what we're trying to accomplish here.
[23:08] So first thing is, when we did the transaction back in 2019, given that it was a
[23:14] somewhat unique transaction where there's subsidies coming from the state for that
[23:20] project tied to the Wawa train station, we essentially borrowed funds in a
[23:23] reasonably short-term manner, where over 15 years, we're amortizing the payments
[23:29] and receiving funds to offset those costs.
[23:32] So we are doing a refinancing of that debt tied to that project as well as the
[23:37] library. So when we talk about a refinancing, the goal here is to take advantage of
[23:42] short-term interest rates where we are today and hope to save some funds because
[23:47] the interest rates are lower than what we had previously. So that's the first part.
[23:50] So this is a reduction of your interest expense, which would help your budget.
[23:55] Then in addition, we're considering borrowing an additional $2.5 million, which
[23:59] would be used for various capital projects of the township, much of which would be
[24:05] renovations to some buildings. Certainly, Vince can provide some additional details
[24:09] on that, and may have other projects coming down the road in the future.
[24:12] But how we would consider this, the structuring that we would do, would keep the
[24:16] debt reasonably short. This would be a seven-year amortization, and there would be
[24:21] very little impact to your budget even despite borrowing additional funds.
[24:25] So I'll run through what that means and how it works, but the most important aspect
[24:29] here is much of this financing is really tied to the refinancing of existing debt.
[24:36] So what we're asking you to consider will be at the next council meeting, where
[24:41] there's what is called a parameters ordinance that's going to be established, that
[24:46] we'll ask you to consider. So tonight's presentation is about the first reading of
[24:50] that ordinance, and that ordinance essentially will authorize the debt issuance for
[24:55] this particular transaction. It'll make certain that all the terms and conditions
[25:00] of the issue are met under state guidelines under the Local Government Unit Debt
[25:04] Act. It will make sure that we meet a minimum savings threshold on the refinancing,
[25:10] and it'll make sure that it manages the final maturity not going any farther than
[25:14] what we originally intended the borrowing to be.
[25:17] So all of those things will be pre-approved through the ordinance, and then we
[25:22] would go forward with bond financing that would ultimately issue the debt.
[25:27] Our job, being your fiduciary, would be to structure the debt, work on your behalf,
[25:32] and make sure that the bonds are priced accordingly.
[25:35] And if we don't feel comfortable with the market, or the savings don't fall within
[25:39] range, we would make appropriate adjustments to the transaction itself.
[25:43] So what we'd be asking you to consider at the next meeting would be that ordinance
[25:47] and giving us the flexibility to move forward with that transaction on your behalf.
[25:53] Turning to page three, and we'll just briefly describe what you
[25:59] have. So this is your existing debt portfolio.
[26:03] So this gives you an idea of what the township is currently paying in annual debt
[26:07] service, with related to the 2019 bonds, the 2019 As, and the 2020 bonds.
[26:13] You can see that you have various kind of amortizations on each issue, which
[26:18] essentially many of them are offset by other revenues.
[26:21] But as you can see, your debt goes out to 2049.
[26:25] This particular issue that we're refinancing is related to column two.
[26:29] We are paying about $970,000 a year in annual debt service, which is principal and
[26:34] interest, which will drop off in 2032.
[26:38] The bonds that we're talking about refinancing are actually past their call date,
[26:41] meaning that in 2024, when we were able to refinance the debt for the first time,
[26:47] the market wasn't good enough for you to do it. So we've been monitoring that.
[26:51] And frankly, since we're considering some additional borrowings, if you put these
[26:55] together for a consolidation, it saves on kind of interest expense and cost, and
[27:00] allows you to save money with this transaction.
[27:02] So it's a value of doing things together at the same time.
[27:05] Everything else on this page is really just a highlight of what you have
[27:08] outstanding. Turning to page four
[27:13] This is the plan of finance, and you'll notice multiple colors here.
[27:18] We wanted to appropriately show you what we're trying to accomplish.
[27:24] Where things are going is assuming that council determines to move forward at the
[27:28] next meeting with the ordinance. The
[27:32] finance team as well as your administration have been working forward with the
[27:36] plan, and if we find a time where the market works, we would lock up interest rates
[27:41] and we would essentially establish financing that would do the green section, which
[27:46] is the refinancing, and the blue section.
[27:49] It's one financing, it's doing two separate things.
[27:52] But as far as you're concerned, the payback would be broken out between the bonds
[27:57] that you already were paying and saving some money, and then we would borrow
[28:01] additional $2.5 million to cover the capital costs.
[28:05] How we structure the debt would be what is called a wraparound debt service.
[28:09] So if you look at column seven, it just means that while you're paying your other
[28:14] payments, we're essentially delaying some of the principal back and filling in the
[28:18] principal once some of the debt falls off.
[28:21] So what that really means is you have very little incremental payment on your
[28:26] overall debt service. It will be about $150,000 of
[28:31] additional payment. And one of the things to point out is, I'm not sure if it's
[28:35] finalized, but that you would potentially be receiving rental income that comes
[28:40] from the building that you'd be renovating, which would essentially help offset
[28:44] those payments. So from our perspective, between that and the additional funds that
[28:50] you've been collecting from the state for the TRID project or the Wawa train
[28:54] station, it's essentially covering much of your debt service.
[28:57] So there's very little impact to you, and you're able to do these projects in a
[29:02] fashion that makes sense for you.
[29:03] Mm-hmm.
[29:04] All that being said, the amortization would end in about seven years, and we expect
[29:09] that the interest rate would be around 3.3%.
[29:13] That would be kind of the average rate over the course of time.
[29:17] And the current interest rates that you're paying on your debt is around 4%, so
[29:20] those differences are where the savings comes in. I'll stop.
[29:24] Lots of colors, lots of things, but big picture here is very little impact to your
[29:29] budget, some savings from the refinancing, and a reasonably short-term instrument,
[29:35] so it'll be paid back pretty quickly.
[29:37] And the last thing would be you would have an opportunity to refinance in the
[29:40] future because these bonds would be callable.
[29:44] Whether we would do that in future, I don't know, but we would have that option in
[29:47] case you want. So I'll stop and see if anyone has any questions on how it would
[29:51] work.
[29:56] Real quick. What would make
[29:59] the environment favorable to call them? Is it just lower interest rates?
[30:03] Just if interest rates are lower.
[30:04] Got it.
[30:05] That or if you received outside funding.
[30:08] Sometimes when local governments receive grants for other things or
[30:14] contributions of some capacity, there may be value to take those funds and reduce
[30:18] your debt. So that would give you the option to do that.
[30:22] And last question, how do we get to the highest credit rating? What do we do?
[30:27] Or is it just sort of out of our control? Is it just...
[30:29] So, that's a great question. I would say you are probably
[30:34] at one of the best ratings for the size of a local government.
[30:39] So, the United States government has lots of local governments
[30:44] throughout the country, and Pennsylvania is a unique place where we have thousands
[30:49] upon thousands of local governments.
[30:51] So when Moody's Investors Service or Standard & Poor's compare you to the city of
[30:56] Chicago or a state or even a county, local governments of your size
[31:02] are considered small compared to those.
[31:05] When they do their credit metrics and review you, you fit into a different window.
[31:11] Where you need to get to V AAA is you need to have a significant amount of
[31:17] reserves. And I would say that you're in a very strong financial position right
[31:22] now. To get to triple A would take a very large change in where you are.
[31:28] And the value you get to be Triple A in this particular case probably wouldn't be
[31:33] worth it to you, in my humble opinion. Although we all want to be Triple A.
[31:36] Sure.
[31:36] I think because of the size of your local government, you'd need a little bit more.
[31:42] For what it's worth, when we come back at your next--for future presentations,
[31:46] there's a copy of the credit rating that we receive from Standard & Poor's.
[31:49] It'll show you some of the things that you could do or not do to benefit.
[31:54] But generally speaking, it's really raising your tax base even higher, increasing
[31:59] your fund balance above
[32:02] significant reserves that you already have, and a couple of odds and ends.
[32:06] But I think in general, you are in a very good place currently.
[32:10] Thank you.
[32:10] To add to that a little bit,
[32:13] since we got our last rating, we now have a rainy day fund, which we're adding to
[32:19] every year, which helps. We do have an extra year's balance in our
[32:24] debt service fund because the acquisition of the open space that we did with this
[32:30] 2019 bond took an extra year, and we do have
[32:35] substantial reserves in our general fund currently.
[32:41] And one unique aspect that we have that a lot of other municipalities don't have is
[32:46] we have a grandfathered business privilege tax, which municipalities are currently
[32:50] not allowed to collect anymore. We put that in in the '80s, so we
[32:56] have the business revenue stream as well as our normal real estate
[33:02] taxes.
[33:04] Thanks.
[33:05] Yeah, you guys are doing it right. I should point out, it's a good story here and
[33:11] getting involved in Double-A plus, we're very happy with.
[33:14] Well, we always want Triple-A, but I think this is quite good.
[33:18] Just turning onto the next page, I just wanted to touch on just the timeline here.
[33:22] I hit the high notes associated with your action here.
[33:26] If you look in the middle of the page, we've done a decent amount of the
[33:32] back office work to get us to this place.
[33:35] But through the next action item would be the advertisement of the
[33:41] ordinance, which would be done by your bond counsel.
[33:44] Then there'd be a presentation of the final ordinance approval for the meeting on
[33:49] the 16th. Once that occurs, assuming you decided to move forward with that
[33:53] ordinance, we would then be finalizing the preliminary offering statement, which is
[33:58] the document that the investors would look at to help determine to purchase the
[34:02] bonds, and we would find a time to sell the bonds, which would probably happen
[34:08] no earlier than the 16th, but probably somewhere closer to the end of the
[34:14] month. Somewhere in between that, and we'll watch the market.
[34:17] From there, we would settle sometime around November.
[34:21] You would be locked in on or around that, the end of the month at this point in
[34:25] time.
[34:26] Everything else would be handled by the professionals.
[34:30] The action of council would be the next action view.
[34:36] Thank you for your time. I know it's a mundane thing to talk about bonds, but I
[34:41] think the bright side here is the story is good, the thing we're doing is good, and
[34:46] ultimately, the work that you all done is being shown and seen by outside
[34:52] professionals that think you're doing a good job. Kudos to the township.
[34:55] Well, thank you.
[34:57] Okay. Thank you.
[34:58] Thank you. Any questions from anyone up here?
[35:02] Do we have an idea of what we might receive for rail income subsidies?
[35:11] There may be a one-time payment of $400,000
[35:17] or slightly more to go towards the improvement cost of the structure.
[35:23] Perhaps
[35:30] $2,600 a month in rent. Once the
[35:36] county considers the memorandum of understanding, then we would go the step further
[35:42] and actually do a lease for that. But that's the neighborhood.
[35:47] Okay.
[35:49] Thank you.
[35:50] For what it's worth, I did this exact same transaction for the City of Coatesville
[35:54] for their building on second floor.
[35:55] It's a very similar structure, so it seems to work quite well. Okay.
[36:00] Any questions from the public?
[36:03] What facility are you looking at?
[36:06] We are looking to move the district magistrate's office to the Township
[36:12] Campus from its current location on South Panel
[36:18] Yeah
[36:19] I have a, just not in sort of this, but what is-- obviously that building needs a
[36:23] lot of renovation. Do we have any idea what the timeline would be at all?
[36:29] I know it's... Maybe not, and that's fine.
[36:34] We would hope to get it done quicker than 18 months.
[36:39] And the
[36:42] county was originally looking at using the basement for
[36:47] additional uses. That would have increased the cost and increased the time.
[36:51] The county has decided that they just want to have the district magistrate on the
[36:56] first floor, so that will cut down the cost and cut down the time for construction.
[37:01] Thank you.
[37:04] Just for purpose of discussion, once the funds are received for the transaction,
[37:09] they could also be invested and earn while you're doing construction.
[37:13] You can't earn above what we borrow, but there's a good chance that you'd be
[37:16] earning pretty similar to what you're borrowing at.
[37:18] So from a perspective of the cost of it while you're doing construction, almost be
[37:23] offset.
[37:25] And why we added additional capital project, the ability to spend on additional
[37:29] capital projects is if for some reason the construction gets delayed and whatnot,
[37:35] we have existing capital projects that we can kind of redirect the money for, like
[37:40] for Lanai Park, and then use the money that we had set aside for Lanai Park to do
[37:45] the construction payments at a later date. So it just gives us more flexibility.
[37:53] Okay. Thank you very much.
[37:55] Thank you.
[37:55] Thank you.
[38:10] Next is items for approval.
[38:14] We have a consideration of approval to advertise for the sale of the 2018 Case
[38:19] backhoe. Do I have a motion?
[38:21] So moved.
[38:22] Thank you. And a second?
[38:24] Second.
[38:24] Mr. Resciss?
[38:29] The township recently received a new backhoe that was on
[38:34] backorder.
[38:37] We are looking to sell our old backhoe on MuniCiv Bid, which we've
[38:45] been very successful in selling items on that.
[38:50] We would like to put a reserve on that, and with council's
[38:55] approval, if the bid goes over the reserve, if you would allow the
[39:01] township manager to go ahead and sign that to the...
[39:06] Allow him to sell that at the highest responsible bidder, that's what we're hoping
[39:12] for tonight.
[39:15] Okay. Any questions?
[39:20] Any questions from the public?
[39:23] All in favor?
[39:25] Aye.
[39:26] Any opposed? Motion passes.
[39:30] Next up, consideration of approval to advertise for bid the 2027 through 2029
[39:35] recycling services. Do I have a motion?
[39:39] So moved.
[39:41] Moved.
[39:41] Thank you. And a second?
[39:42] Second.
[39:43] Thank you. Mr. Resciss.
[39:50] Our current recycling contract is up at the end of the year.
[39:54] We are looking to get bids to continue the recycling services.
[40:00] It is basically the same provision of services that we have now,
[40:06] with an option if a provider would like to do
[40:12] toters for the recycling service rather than the small bins that we have now,
[40:18] it would allow that. So it is a recycling bid for the next three years,
[40:23] 2027 through 2029.
[40:28] Thank you. Any questions?
[40:33] Any questions from the public?
[40:36] Okay. All in favor?
[40:38] Aye.
[40:39] Any opposed? Motion passed.
[40:42] Mr. Chairman, before moving on final matter, just for purposes of keeping the
[40:46] record, um, meeting minutes clear, uh, we did receive that presentation by PFN
[40:51] Financial Advisors. But there's also after that, the introduction of the ordinance
[40:56] 874 would bond para- bound parameter for ordinance authorization advertised, um,
[41:01] which is very affili- affiliated, but a separate matter.
[41:06] Uh, just to see if there was a... Again, no action at this time.
[41:08] It's a workshop item, but wanted to see if there was a discussion or any questions
[41:13] from counsel related to that ordinance which is in your packet.
[41:18] Thank you for that. Yeah, I did miss that. We do have that.
[41:24] Um, that was the second,
[41:28] actually the third item in the
[41:31] paperwork provided for that presentation.
[41:34] Is there any
[41:38] approvals required at this time? Because that would come at the next meeting.
[41:44] That's correct. And as Mr. Subser said, this is something that's going to be coming
[41:48] before you for the re-advertisement of this ordinance.
[41:53] But if there's any questions on that ordinance now, it was put together by our
[41:59] specialized bond counsel on this matter reviewed by my office.
[42:03] But it is something, I think, to meet the timelines that are presented in the other
[42:08] packets, just to make sure that there's no hold up from counsel on these. Yeah.
[42:16] Any other comments or questions? Just calling out that this is part of, like, the
[42:21] normal workshop items that we would have normally had as a separate line item that
[42:27] will then be advertised and voted on in two weeks.
[42:32] Okay. Thank you for that clarification.
[42:36] Okay. Last item for approval is the consideration of approval for the
[42:42] August 2026 bill list. Do I have a motion?
[42:45] So moved.
[42:46] Thank you. And a second?
[42:48] Second.
[42:49] Thank you.
[42:51] All right. From the Capital Reserve Fund,
[42:55] $71,492. From the Escrow fund,
[43:00] $11,084. From the General fund,
[43:06] $339,785.
[43:12] From the Highway fund, $305,238,
[43:19] for a total of $727,600.
[43:26] Any questions?
[43:28] All in favor?
[43:30] Aye.
[43:32] Any opposed?
[43:34] Motion passes. We are adjourned