TOWNSHIP OF NORTH HUNTINGDON, BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION MEETING, THURSDAY, MAYS 9, 2024, 7:00 P.M. 11279 Center Highway, North Huntingdon, PA 15642 Presiding Officer-Jason Atwood, President, Board of Commissioners  CALL TO ORDER  Commissioner Atwood called the meeting to order at 7:00P.M.  ROLL CALL  Commissioner Hempel - Present Commissioner Haigis - Present Commissioner Gray - Present Commissioner Zona - Present Commissioner Bevan - Present Commissioner Gass - Present Commissioner Atwood - Present PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE CITIZENS INPUT  Also Present: Manager Faulk Solicitor Dice Ryan Fonzi  Robert Bauer - 525 Forest Oaks Trail - provides photos for the Board and states he is ai resident of Mountain Ridge Estates. He states he moved to the plan in 2019 and the development has achieved the requirements for the roads tol be accepted by the' Township. He states hei is the elected president of their HOA and met with Kody Grabiak, the developer Joe Hart and Commissioner Gass in December 2023 and learned there would be a three-phase approach to the project where the street drains would be removed and drains in the ditches maintained starting in winter 2023. Homeowners would be notified of areas to be corrected and final street repairs and finishing completed by spring 2024. To date, nothing has happened and communications have gone cold. He states Commissioner Gass told him we are waiting on ai four thousand dollar decision for. who will bei responsible for taking out the drains. The photos provided show what is happening to the roads and is now as safety concern. He states there is a damaged stormdrain from two years ago at the entrance to the plan and hei is waiting for the day when it fallsi in and causes a car accident. He states no one is taking responsibility and that is the biggest frustration. He asks that since the Renee Shaffer - 616 Forest Oaks Trail = states she has been a1 resident since 2009 and echoes Mr. Bauer's comments. She states shél loves the plan, the Township and school district and volunteers a lot ofher time over: fifteen years serving the community. She states that four thousand dollars is Colton Klipa & Dalton Thomas - Sophia Court - state they are students at) Norwin Middle School and would like to propose a skate park at Lions Park. They provide a slide show for skate parks.  criteria has been met that the Township accept the roads.  not al huge amount but would appreciate the consideration.    May9,2024  Bob Kettren - 1161 Frog Road - states he was told in October that the problem he is having  would be taken care of and wants to know why it isn't done.  Dan Kohrnak - item is on the agenda.  LaVonne Shields-371 Charles Drive - states shei is retired having worked for North Huntingdon for forty four years. She is concerned about some union positions and that she is also a retired AFSCME employee. She states there have been conversations made with some of the union employees regarding dialect between retired employees and current employees basically looking for some history and knowledge during the past forty four years. She would like to portray open- Sylvio Garcia = 474 Jackson Street - states he would like to speak regarding backyard chicken keeping. He states hei moved to the' Township 1 Vyears ago. He states hei first considered keeping chickens during COVID when store shelves were empty with food insecurities. Having a secure food supply is important as they have both health and financial issues. He states he is noti in favor ofroosters, or chickens roaming around free. He feels they should be contained and noise needs to be controlled. He proposes for consideration the allowance of chicken tractors that are  mindedness and not restricting who employees can talk to about history  moveable, that contain the chickens, and would not require a foundation.  RESPONSE TO CITIZENSINPUT  Mountain Ridge Estates - Commissioner Atwood states this topic is still in legal matters. Manager Faulk adds that he met with the developer today and said he will talk with his attorney. He states it will entail who will be responsible for taking out the storm inlets. Commissioner Gass asks if they can. start to be removed. Manager Faulk states they cannot be removed until the agreement iss signed by the developer. Solicitor Dice asks ifthey offered aj proposed solution. Manager Faulk states he will follow up with Solicitor Alexander and will forward the response. Skate Park Proposal - Commissioner Gass states they put on an excellent presentation. Commissioner Zona asks where they envision the skate park at Lions Park because the center of the park is a drainage pond that cannot be built on. Commissioner Haigis suggests meeting with Director Miller to explore areas and see ift there are any grants or funding. Commissioner Gray states it was a very professional presentation and asks if they have researched the costs to build this skate park. Mr. Klipa states there is a program called The Skateboard Project that gives Frog Road - Manager Faulk states a lot has been done already where Public Works installed a catch basin and uncovered al buried catch basin. Also, the Board approved KU: Resources to look ati fixing the source oft the water problem on Scotch Hill Road and put together aj plan to fix it. LaVonne Shields = Manger Faulk states this is a personnel matter for Executive Session. Commissioner Gray thanks LaVonne for raising this issue and agrees that in the past six years  estimated costs.  have lost a great deal ofinstitutional knowledge in the people that left.    Mays 9,2024  Work Sessions Discussion Topics  1) Extend the North Huntingdon Township Police Civil Service List  Manager Faulk states this is a request from Chief Rizzo and would like to extend the list for one  year from the Civil Service Commission. 2) Fee Ordinance Update*  Manager Faulk states the last time the fee ordinance was updated was in 2011. He states staff have worked diligently to be comparable to other municipalities and will be a motion to advertise  next week.  3) Proposed Chicken Keeping Ordinance*  Manager Faulk states last month a motion was made to advertise to repeal the current ordinance. Director Fonzi put together a policy and recommended an ordinance. Commissioner Gass states Mr. Garcia gave an excellent presentation and asks Director Fonzi if he has anything to offer. Director Fonzi states he would like to address the chicken tractor that Mr. Garcia spoke of. He states the previous version of the ordinance included chicken tractors, but the proposed ordinance isai fixed structure and run, sO when the permit is applied for, the inspector can gos see where it is. When you introduce a chicken tractor, then the portability ofit makes it near impossible for the Code Officer to enforce. He states the sticking point in past years have been the lot size and distances from neighboring properties and that is what he would like to: focus on with hard criteria, not subjective opinions. Commissioner Gass states the majority of the calls that he has received wanted to allow chickens. He would like to do case by case and is one hundred percent for chickens. Commissioner Gray asks Director Fonzi where the ordinance came from and did he develop it or staff or combination of both. Director Fonzi states there have been some draft ordinances and he also pulled information from other municipalities. Commissioner Gray asks if he approves oft thej proposed ordinance. Director Fonzi states if thel Board elects to go the route of having a stand-alone chicken ordinance, then he and his staff would be more comfortable with this. He states they are still covered byt the zoning ordinance for chicken as livestock with acreages set. He also states that he does not want to turn this into a discriminatory discussion and is not saying you cannot have chickens, but just have to have the right amount of land. He proposes: a one acre minimum with the chicken structure twenty feet from the nearest property line and fifty feet from the nearest dwelling. Commissioner Gass states homes with at least one acre of land normally have covenants that do not permit chicken and would supersede what we are allowed to enact. Director Fonzi states ifs somebody has restrictive covenants, we cannot not issue the permit and would be up to the people in the development to file suit against that resident. The fee would bet twol hundred dollars with noj public hearing or court reporter. Commissioner Zona states that he likes most oft the draft and agrees with Director Fonzi that regulations need to be black and white and that is not what we have right now. He: feels the noise and odor are still subjective, but is ok with one acre minimum. He states there are regulations for what is allowed on your land and government has to: regulate that. Commissioner Haigis states hè is ok passing the ordinance with one acre but would be morei ini favor oftwo acres or more. Commissioner Hempel states he would bei ini favor ofone acre and thanks Director) Fonzi for putting this together. Commissioner Atwood    May9.2024  states this should be the end oft the chicken argument and agrees with most oft the ordinance. He states he would go down to al halfacre, but if one acre gets it done, he would be ok with that.  4) Keystone Collections Agreements and Resolutions*  Manager Faulk states the agreements and resolutions will be on the agenda for next week. 5) Steering Committee for Multi-Municipal Active Transportation Group Manager Faulk states he has been approached by the volunteers of the Friends ofNorwin Trails who are interested in putting together an active transportation plan for Irwin, North Irwin and North Huntingdon. Dan Kohrnak, Bob Morgan, Scott Gray and! Marianne Lauffer are present from Friends ofNorwin Trails and state their mission is to establish safe and accessible bicycling and walking trails. Mr. Kohrnak states the group has been around for about a year and non-profit for eight months and during that time has raised five thousand dollars towards planning. He states they plan to be at summer events and working with Commissioner Chew on a grant with Westmoreland County. They are also working with Dan Miller at Braddocks' Trail Park. He states one of their initiatives is the Norwin Area Active Transportation Plan which is walking, biking, rolling a wheelchair and basically anything non-motorized to be ablet to get around the community. He states this opens up State and Federal funding opportunities and is a really good investment that could be paid for, inj part, with grants opening in 2025. Commissioner Gass asks how many miles will this be. Mr. Kohrnak states ini the short term would be six miles of trails with the end state being twenty five miles depending on thei routes. Commissioner Zona states hei rides the trail in' Trafford to Export with restaurants and businesses close by and would be all for this.  6) VFW Post 781 Pavilion Reconstruction  Commissioner Zona states hei requested this item be on the agenda as several people reached out tol him regarding VFW Post #781 rebuilding the Donald Kattic Pavilion and looking for financial assistance. He states the First Class Township Code, Article 13 Section 13.11 states the Board of Commissioners may make an annual appropriation not to exceed three hundred dollars to veterans associations. The commander of the VFW will ati next weeks meeting to speak to the Board. 7) Firepit Business Gross Receipts Tax Interest and Penalty Reduction Request Manager Faulk states the owner ofThe Firepit has officially notified him that he would like the Board to approve some tax interests and penalty deductions. He states the business has paid taxes before COVID and after, but if the Board waives any of these penalties ofinterest, will have to do that for a lot ofbusinesses ini the Township. Commissioner Gray asks ift there is anyone else that would meet the same numbers as far as the year and delay. Manager Faulk states the tax collector said the businesses with delinquent taxes have paid and this is the only business that has not. Commissioner Hempel asks ifthe penalty charge ofsixteen hundred twenty four dollars is normal. Manager Faulk states that is a standard penalty. Commissioner Hempel states the letter from the Firepit states it was an honest mistake and seems like a high penalty. Manager Faulk states the tax collector sent out five hundred twenty seven delinquent tax notices and this is the only business    May9,2024  complaint that did not pay. Commissioner Haigis states it would bej prudent for the Board tol hold  off until they get more information from the tax collector.  8) Greenways, Trails, Recreation Program Grant for Indian Lake/Kenda Dam  Stream Improvements  Manager Faulk states last year the County Conservation District applied for a grant for the stream improvements but were denied. He states a grant is open for this project and is due at the end of  the month.  LANMNG/INGINERING TOPICS: There are no, plan reviews. OLD BUSINESS  FURTHER BOARD COMMENTS  Commissioner Atwood states a letter was received from the AARP Tax Service expressing their sincere gratitude for North Huntingdon Township for allowing them to use the municipal building toj provide tax preparation services. They also thank the staff for their cooperation and support. Commissioner Haigis states a few residents reached out to him regarding the bridge closure on Fairview Drive and more traffic through the Country Hills neighborhood, Manager Faulk states a  detour is posted. ADJOURNMENT Motion: Commissioner Zona Second: Commissioner Gray  Motion to go into Executive Session with no further business and adjourn after. Motion carried 7-0-0  Special Meeting minutes of May 9, 2024, were approved by the Board of  Commissioners on June 19, 2024.  AED Jason Atwood, President  2300  Harry R. Faulk, Township Secretary