Board of Supervisors Agenda

MINUTES
Upper Saucon Township Board of Supervisors
Special Meeting
Saturday, December 1, 2007 - 9:00 a.m.
Township Municipal Building

Members Present:
Miro A. Gutzmirtl, Chairman
Stephen C. Wagner, Vice Chairman
James H. White, Sr.
Joyce V. White
Joseph M. Horvath

Staff Attending:
Thomas F. Beil, Township Manager
Robert E. Kassel, Jr., Asst. Township Manager
Sharyn Yeakel, Director of Community Development
Robert Coyle, Chief of Police
Donald Eck, Jr., Superintendent of Roads
Daniel Stahlnecker, Superintendent of Water/Sewer
Charles Castetter, Jr., Fire Chief
Karl Schreiter, Jr., Township Sewer Engineer
Ronald Gawlik, Township Engineer

CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Gutzmirtl called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. in the Public Meeting Room of the Upper Saucon Township Municipal Building, 5500 Camp Meeting Road, Upper Saucon Township, Lehigh County, PA.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Chairman Gutzmirtl asked all in attendance to stand and recite the “Pledge of Allegiance.”

PUBLIC COMMENT
None

PROPOSED 2008 BUDGET
PowerPoint Presentation by Robert Kassel, Jr., Assistant Township Manager
Mr. Kassel gave a PowerPoint presentation to the Board on the proposed 2008 Township Budget. A copy of the presentation is attached hereto, made a part hereof, and identified as Attachment “A.”

A summary of the budget items discussed is listed below.

• Water Capital Reserve Fund – Mr. White was concerned about the $1,162,000.00 in expenditures budgeted for 2008. In particular, Mr. White said he did not see a need to purchase a new water utility truck for $50,000.
  
  Mr. Kassel said the biggest expense in this fund was upgrades to the Colonial Crest Water Supply Well.
  
  Mr. Horvath reminded Mr. White that the Colonial Crest Well Project was a capital investment that would be offset by eliminating the need to purchase water from the City of Bethlehem.
  
  At the request of the Chairman, Mr. Stahlnecker provided justification for the purchase of a new water utility truck.

• Lehigh County Senior Citizens’ Center – Mrs. White pointed out the Lehigh County Senior Citizens Center had requested a contribution of $1,500.00 from the Township. Mrs. White was in favor of increasing the contribution from $1,000.00 to $1,500.00 for 2008.
  
  Chairman Gutzmirtl hoped the Township’s involvement with the Lehigh County Senior Citizens Center would result in programs being offered at a facility in the Township.  Chairman Gutzmirtl felt the $1,000.00 contribution, which worked out to be just over $10.00 for each Township resident attending the Lehigh County Senior Citizens Center, was reasonable at this time.

• Ten Ton Asphalt Roller – Mr. White did not think the limited amount of time that it would be used justified purchasing a ten ton asphalt roller for $97,500.00. Instead, he said, the roller could be borrowed from Lower Saucon Township or rented from an equipment company.

• Forklift – 5,000lb Lift – Mr. White was also opposed to the purchase of a new forklift for $24,971.85 when a used one could be purchased for less.

• Salary Increase and Pension Contribution – Mr. White did not agree with the four percent salary increase and three percent pension contribution budgeted for 2008. He favored a three and one-half percent salary increase and a two percent pension contribution, which would be identical to the salary increase and pension contribution in 2007.

• Water Fund and Sewer Fund Balances - Mr. Horvath was concerned about the ending balances for the water and sewer funds. He understood there would be some special expenditures made for 2008, but he was curious as to whether the balances could be built back up in the years going forward in the normal course of business.
  
  Mr. Kassel replied yes. In the case of the sewer fund, he explained, over the next several years, debt services would be ending, and therefore it is likely additional funds will accumulate in that account. As for the water fund, he said, many of the major capital projects have been completed or will be completed in 2008.

• Purchasing of Various Capital Equipment – Mr. Horvath requested rationalization for the purchase of various capital equipment, such as the ten ton asphalt roller.
  
  Mr. Beil referred Mr. Horvath to an analysis that was performed with regard to the ten ton asphalt roller. The analysis, performed by Mr. Schreiter, looked at the estimated usage over the next several years and determined the roller would pay for itself in eight to ten years.
  
  Mr. Horvath wanted to know if this type of machine and some of the others budgeted were available to rent, since most were only able to be used at certain times of the year.
  
  Mr. Beil briefly reviewed the problems that existed with renting rollers and other equipment, such as limited availability during the prime construction season.  Mr. Beil also noted that roads paved with the current six ton roller would not qualify for liquid fuels funding because the current roller is too small and does not meet PennDOT guidelines.
   
  A brief exchange then took place between Mr. Horvath and Mr. Eck, where the difference in quality and efficiency between the ten ton asphalt roller and a smaller roller was discussed.

• Salary Increases – Mr. Horvath felt the four percent salary increase was fair.

• Liberty Road – Road Resurfacing Overlay – Mr. Wagner was interested in finding out what portion of Liberty Road was included in this project and when the Township hoped to have the project completed.
  
  Mr. Beil said the Road Crew would pave the entire length of Liberty Road from Main Street to Robin Lane.   It is anticipated the Liberty Road paving project will take place in the summer of 2008.
  
  
• Debt Service – Recreation/Open Space – Mr., Wagner asked about the $300,000.00 debt service listed under general fund expenses for recreation and open space.
  
  Mr. Kassel explained the $300,000.00 debt service would retire the debt on the Five Million Dollars recreation/open space borrowing which is proposed for 2008. 

• Workers’ Compensation – Mr. Wagner inquired about the reason for the significant difference between the 2008 budgeted Workers’ Compensation amount and the 2007 projected Workers’ Compensation amount.
  
  Mr. Kassel said the Township expects a large increase in the 2008 Workers’ Compensation premium due to the unfortunate death of a police officer in 2007.

• Recreation Fund Expenses – Mr. Wagner want to know how the figures shown in the budget were determined.
  
  Mr. Kassel responded the Township had not received a budget from the Parks and Recreation Commission due to the canceling of a recent meeting, so the Township Staff used the budget submitted in 2007 to prepare the 2008 budget.

• Water Capital Reserve Fund – Develop Water Supply Well on Former Drewniany Property and Upgrade Colonial Crest Water Supply Well – Mr. Wagner requested more information on these two projects.
  
  Mr. Beil briefly reviewed the two projects.
   
  Mr. White wondered how much the Colonial Crest Project had cost the Township to date.
  
  Mr. Beil estimated $300,000.00 had been spent so far.

• Sewer Treatment Capital Reserve Fund – Mr. Wagner asked for the source or sources for the money in the Sewer Treatment Capital Reserve Fund.
  
  Mr. Beil replied the money in that particular fund was generated by interest income and tapping fees.

• Police Pension Fund – Mr. Wagner asked if the revenues for this account included investment revenues, to which Mr. Kassel responded no.

• Ten Ton Asphalt Roller – Chairman Gutzmirtl said the Township’s Road Department used a borrowed 10 ton roller to complete several road projects during the summer of 2007.  He inspected roads that were paved with the ten ton roller and roads that were paved with the six ton roller and noted that the roads that were paved with the ten ton roller were of much higher quality.  Chairman Gutzmirtl concluded the purchase of the ten ton asphalt roller would be worth the cost.

• Salary Increase – Chairman Gutzmirtl thought that in the future, the non-uniform salary increase should be viewed and determined separately from the police salary increase, which was dictated by their contract. However, this year, he felt the four percent increase for non-unformed employees was fair given the increase in the employee pension contribution amount. He also commented that as the Board moved forward, employee contributions toward health care would be investigated and mostly likely implemented.

EXECUTIVE SESSION
An executive session was held to discuss personnel matters.

Adoption of the Tentative 2008 Township Budget and Authorization for Advertisement
A motion was made by Mrs. White and seconded by Mr. Wagner to adopt the tentative 2008 Township Budget and to authorize the Township Manager to advertise the Budget so that final consideration of the Budget can be accomplished at the Board of Supervisors meeting on December 26, 2007 at 6:00 p.m.

The motion carried by a vote of 5 to 0.

COURTESY OF THE FLOOR
None

ADJOURNMENT
A motion was made by Mr. White and seconded by Mr. Horvath to adjourn the meeting.

The motion carried unanimously.

                                                                       
Secretary