BOROUGH OF WIND GAP 545 East' West Street WIND GAP, PA 18091 610-863-7288 FAX 610-863-1011  Wind Gap Borough Council meeting on Tuesday September 3, 2024, was called to order at7:00 p.m. by Council President George Hinton, at which time he reminded those present that the meeting was being recorded. In attendance were Council members Steve Bender, Mark Crossen, Dave Manzo, Jason Boulette, Patrick Webber, and Alex Cortezzo. Also in attendance were Mayor Wesley J. Smith, Borough Solicitor Ronald Karasek, Borough Engineer Brian  Pysher and Borough Manager Louise Firestone.  PUBLIC COMMENT OATH OF OFFICE  No public comments were heard at this time.  Mayor Smith administered the Oath of Office to the newly appointed Junior Council Member, Olivia Bentley. She will attend monthly council meetings, observe borough council  meeting rules and participate in borough business.  APPROVAL OF MINUTES  On motion by Dave Manzo to approve the August 20, 2024, minutes and seconded by Alex Cortezzo. Roll call vote taken. Ini favor: S. Bender, A. Cortezzo, M. Crossen, G., Hinton,  D. Manzo, P Webber. Abstained: J. Boulette. Motion passed: 6-0-1.  APPROVAL OF EXPENSES  On motion by Patrick Webber to approve the expenses in the amount of $12,881.91  and seconded by Dave Manzo. Roll call vote taken. Council agreed unanimously.  SOLICITOR'S REPORT  See attachment one (1). ENGINEER'S REPORT  Brian reported that the paving contractor for Constitution Avenue and Oak Street sent him a paving schedule indicating that they will be milling Oak Street this Friday, September 6 and then paving when they are finished milling. Once Oak Street is finished, the contractor will move their equipment to Constitution, with plans to mill on Tuesday, scratch and overlay on Wednesday, and finish with the overlay on Thursday. Of course, as with any outdoor project or The Borough Street Department will continue to construct the retaining wall above the walking trail on the lower tier of the park. Also, they will continue working with Green Knight  paving, this work schedule is all weather dependent.  1    Economic Development with the project at the upper ball field which includes replacing the  existing backstop and dug outs and installing taller fencing.  NEW BUSINESS 1. Request  Tyrone Klump Third Street Development - Appendix No. 11 - Section 506.L - Waiver Tyrone Klump said he will have a landscaper come in to maintain the property. The On motion by Dave Manzo to grant the waiver request with a stipulation that the grounds be maintained sO there is no vegetation growth thati is a hinderance and have the code officer inspect the pillars every two years and seconded by Jason Boulette. Roll call vote taken.  uprights will be pressure treated and will be inspected periodically.  Council agreed unanimously.  2.  Tyrone Klump Third Street Land Development - Street light alteration  Brian Pysher said that Met-Ed changed their standards regarding streetlights. Ifthey are mounted to an existing electric pole, then Met-Ed will maintain them, sO ifa light goes out, it will be replaced by Met-Ed as it currently is with streetlights within the Borough. Mr. Klump's townhouse development can either connect tot the existing poles on the south side of West Third Street or as the approved plans indicate new poles can be erected on the north side along with ar new separate service and meter for these lights. Brian and Louise met with Mr. Klump, representatives from Met-Ed and' Wind Gap Electric, to discuss the options. Met-Edis is comfortable mounting lights on the existing poles in lieu of what was proposed. The design engineer had provided photometrics of the specific lights that were proposed, demonstrating that it was illuminating enough of the street so there are no dark spots. Mr. Klump was asked to have the engineer put the photometrics on the drawing and provide that for Council sO they can get an idea of what area will be lit. This will have to be tabled until Mr. Klump and/or his engineer can provide the documentation for Council to make their decision. PennDOT Scoping Application = Wawa Plan Discussion - Request Additional Escrow Funds Escrow Fnding to cover Expenses Incurred by Borough Professionals Prior to Submission Review of submitted documents /F PennDOT documents by P. Terry (Benchmark) B.  3.  Pysher (Collura Engineering)  Brian Pysher explained some of the history related to the property at 62 North Broadway. The Borough was copied through PennDOT's electronic permitting system and through an email dating back in April of 2023. The developer for the former Beer Stein property was applying for a scoping application meeting and submitted a conceptual plan of the proposed land development and configuration of the existing intersection. PennDOT provided some comments on the submission, which included asking Wind Gap Borough to provide comments to the plan. Since it is not an actual submission to the Borough's Planning Commission, there is no mechanism to trigger the borough professionals to review the plan. The project stalled with legal action necessary to vacate the alleys on the property. Once the legal issues were worked out, a second scoping application indicated the project once again was moving forward. PennDOT would like to receive comments from the Borough, but up until last week no formal submission was made to' Wind Gap. Now that the submission has formally occurred, Council does have questions about the proposed traffic impacts for the development and surrounding businesses. The developer or the developer's representatives have been  2    asked to attend tonight's meeting to present, explain, and answer any questions. Also, the Borough's traffic engineer, Mr. Peter Terry, is in attendance tonight. Mr. Terry has already provided a draft review letter oft the applicants scoping application related to traffic at the Mr. Peter Terry said that the plans were just submitted to the borough as part of a land development application. They are starting the process for a full review. He went over what they are proposing, what they are not proposing, and what thei traffic improvements would look like. Mr. Terry explained to Council that the Borough's ordinance allows for impact of other George Hinton informed those present that the Wawa Convenience Store Land Development Plan will be on the agenda for review at the Planning Commission meeting scheduled for Thursday, September 19, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. Dave Manzo requested copies of any changes that might be made sO the planning commission has the latest information prior to  intersection known as North Broadway and Park Avenue.  intersections to be looked at and he recommends making those reviews.  the Planning Commission meeting. F Requested Response October 25, 2024  4.  Plainfield Township Invitation to Participate in Regional Comprehensive Plan Discussion George Hinton reported that Plainfield Township dropped out of the Slate Belt Comprehensive Plan. Plainfield Township is asking if Wind Gap would like to be in a regional comprehensive plan with Plainfield and Pen Argyl. Alex Cortezzo asked if we would be getting out of the mess from the other plan. George said that the Slate Belt Comprehensive Plan is in its final stages and Lehigh Valley Planning Commission presented the "Plan Slate Belt Comprehensive Plan" recently at al Planning Commission Board meeting. Dave Manzo said that he does not want to see the regional plan and the Slate Belt regional contradicting each other and one community dropping out does not mean that others must follow. George added that the boroughs have all stayed in, but two of the townships, Lower Mt, Bethel and Plainfield have both dropped out. Steve Bender asked if we are aware of the costs that we put into the Slate Belt Plan. Louise said that she would get the numbers. George said we can put ina request to send us the information as to why they did so. Jason Boulette said that he read all the information on Plan Slate Belt and found it very informative. Why would Wind Gap throw out years of work and all the money we spent on this plan because two municipalities dropped out? Although he does not agree with every element oft the document, he does not see why we should throw away all we put into this, sO he is completely opposed to joining Plainfield  Township. OLD BUSINESS  There was no old business to discuss at this time.  PUBLIC COMMENT  1.  Randy Bray of Roosevelt Avenue would like toi talk about an ordinance regarding security cameras. He said a security camera is looking directly into his garage and wants to know if there is something we can do. Attorney Karasek said that, ifa camera is creating an invasion of privacy in an area where you need the protection of privacy, the borough may be able to do something about that. George said that we have been to this property before and the gentleman that lives next door to Randy had spotlights that have since been taken down. Now the spotlight is gone, he has resorted to security cameras. Brian said that our zoning ordinance does not specifically address cameras sO he does not know from a zoning standpoint what  section of the ordinance there would be to issue a citation.  3    2.  Paul Waked of West Center Street said that he is Mr. Bray's neighbor. He was told by the enforcement guy that he can install cameras, and they are allowed to be installed where he has them. Nothing is pointing to his neighbor's garage; he can't see him and is not trying to watch him. He is allowed to have security on his property. Things have been stolen from his property and as soon as possible he will be installing a fence. George thanked both gentlemen, but emphatically stated that this is a private matter and has nothing to do with Council, sO he  suggests that both neighbors hire a lawyer.  3.  Patricia Sutter, 413 South Broadway, suggested adjusting the microphones as people in the audience have not heard everything that has been said during this meeting. George said that, instead of waiting for the end oft the meeting, you should have informed Council earlier in  the meeting that you could not hear. The microphones will be adjusted.  4.  Vanessa Boulette, C36 Dream Drive, said that she wanted to talk about the Plainfield and Slate Belt Plan since they looked into a lot of information about' Wind Gap prior to moving to the area. One of the things that they saw was the Slate Belt Plan, and they thought it was a well thought out and sensible plan and made them feel comfortable moving to the Slate Belt and specifically Wind Gap. She personally thinks that it would be stupid to drop out at this point.  ADJOURNMENT  On motion by Dave Manzo to adjourn the meeting of September 3, 2024. Council agreed unanimously. The meeting of September 3, 2024, adjourned at 8:19 p.m.  deui Zuustnu Louise Firestone, Borough Manager  4    SOLICITOR'S REPORT - R. J. KARASEK, ESQUIRE  WIND GAP BOROUGH MONTH: August 2024  NORTHAMPTON COUNTY, COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA  MEETINGS ATTENDED:  August 20, 2024. attendance at regular monthly meeting of Borough Council  SUBDIVISION MATTERS: None LAND DEVELOPMENT MATTERS:  Receipt, Review and Administration of e-mail from Borough EIT (B. Pysher), Review of 2004 Files, Review of File for Borough Ordinance No. 446, Review of Existing Borough Ordinance No. 407, Preparation of Comprehensive e-mail to B. Pysher RE: Pre-Existing and Non-Conforming Principal Building to be Built Upon an Receipt, Review and Administration of comprenensive e-mail and Review of Copy of Executed Access Easement Agreement Between Borough and Verizon RE:  Improved Public or Private Street Verizon Cell Tower L.D. Plan  ZONING AND OTHER LAND USE MATTERS: None DEVELOPMENTS ON OUTSTANDING LITIGATION: None COURT DECISIONS ON BOROUGH CASES: None  MISCELLANEOUS:  Receipt, Review and Administration of Right-to-Know Request, Review of Office of Open Records Determination, Review of PA Open Records (Right-to-Know). Act and Preparation of comprenensive Denial Correspondence to Requestor RE: Curry - FOIA Receipt, Review and Administration of Comprehensive e-mail from Borough Manager (L. Firestone) with Status of Several Major Projects Occurring Within Borough  Buddy Right-to-Know Request  Preparation of Monthly Solicitor's Report No-Parking Ordinance RE: Oak Alley  OUTSTANDING ITEMS: