Fields to be redone, won’t be ready for play until fall

“If you have an inspection sticker that’s expired by one dayI then is that an abandoned vehicle sitting in your driveway?” asked supervisor oyan GallagherK

cerguson responded that the township is not “looking for a way to fine someoneI” but “to have the ‘teeth’ to remove the car from the propertyK”

HoweverI supervisor Phil Calabro asked whether a person who is remodeling a car in his drivewayI such as a ‘ST justangI should be penalized for having a vehicle without an up-to-date inspection stickerK

“Who are we to tell them that it’s abandonedI” declared CalabroK

cerguson said that the abandoned cars are not causing concernI rather it’s the junked vehicles that neighbors often complain about to the townshipK

“There’s a car on blocks for two yearsI a carburetor in the drivewayI” cerguson saidK

The supervisors directed township solicitor geffrey Garton to look at similar ordinances in other municipalitiesI as well as PennaOT’s interpretationsI and suggest language that a Newtown township ordinance should includeK

“We’ll put it together so that you can have panoply to choose fromI” Garton told the boardK

A proposed ordinance is expected to be drafted and advertised for public comment in the next few weeksK

The supervisors also honored paid township firefighters oussell aavis and gohn Gundy of the Newtown Emergency Services aepartment for administering lifesaving resuscitation to an individual at the Bucks County Community College who had suffered cardiac arrestK

Township cire Chief Glenn corsyth said that aavis and GundyI who are with the department’s Special Services rnitI responded to the campus on Swamp ooad in the township on cebK 2U and found that the victim was unresponsiveK

“Through experienceI training and equipmentI they were able to revive this individualI” corsyth said in announcing the iife Saving AwardK

According to the fire chiefI “It was a textbook caseI” and that it took the responders about eight minutes to revive the victimK

“The individual will be able to go back to work next weekI” corsyth addedK

In presenting the awardI Supervisor sice-Chairman jatt BenchenerI who chaired the meeting because jike Gallagher was out of townI thanked the firefightersK “We are deeply appreciative of your serviceK”

jeanwhileI the supervisors also discussedI without taking actionI whether the township should require that landlord’s obtain a permit for renting their propertyK

Supervisor oob Ciervo said that several residents recently brought up the issue with himK

“Currently we do not have any way to inspect these propertiesI” he saidI noting that there are more than 2IMMM rental units in the townshipK

Ciervo suggested that perhaps the township should require that a permit be issued each yearI and that the property be inspected when before each new tenant moves into a rental propertyK

“It’s not a source of revenue for the townshipI but one of safetyI” Ciervo explainedK

The township manager pointed out that many municipalities issue occupancy permits for rented propertiesI similar to the one issue for new homesK

HoweverI solicitor Garton interjected that the permits work well when there are large-scale apartment complexes in an areaI but that it’s hard to enforce such a requirement when a homeowner rents out a houseK

“Some ordinances workI some don’tI” Supervisor oyan Gallagher maintainedK “jy biggest concern is that it’s difficult to enforceK”

The supervisors also commented on the Newtown Artesian Water CoK formally withdrawing its application with the Pennsylvania Public rtility Commission EPrCF to dig a 22UIMMM-gallon-a-day pumping station on Newtown-Washington Crossing ooad Eooute RP2F in the township’s Conservation janagement ZoneK

Among the reasons that Garton attributed to the utility’s decision to withdraw the PrC application was that the company had questioned whether the quality of water drawn from that location would be adequateK Another reasonI he pointed outI was that the opposition from both the supervisors and community was formidableK

Ciervo attributed much of the success to Thomas Sniscak of the Harrisburg law firm Hawke jcheon C SniscakI which the township had hired to represent it before the PrCK The firm specializes in utility mattersK

“We had great analyses from themI” Ciervo saidI “and they uncovered many things during the discovery processK”

In other action at the jarch NP meetingI the board granted a certificate of completion to arK jark Weglos for the demolition of the boarded-up house on Newtownvardley ooad in ganuaryK

A one-story professional building will be constructed on the site for his practiceI Comprehensive aentistryI which is currently in the Summit Square Shopping Center in neighboring jiddletown TownshipK

The new building is expected to be finished this fallI with arK Weglos moving in when his current lease expires at the end of this yearK

In additionI the supervisors formally approved the cebK 2T written conditional use agreements for Qdoba jexican oestaurant and Smoothie hingI both of which will be in the sillage of Newtown on South Eagle ooadK

The next regularly-scheduled supervisors’ meeting is jarch 2TK