Garage, Merck building bids on commissioners’ agenda
UPPER GWYNEDD » Several development projects long discussed in Upper Gwynedd are nearing approvals.
The township’s commissioners heard an update on several planning and zoning items during their work session meeting last week, including one that’s close to a situation the board addressed this summer.
“The one new item that you may have an interest in, it’s a zoning hearing board application,” said planning and zoning officer Van Rieker.
In August the commissioners approved a code update changing certain dimensional criteria for projects on corner lots in residential areas, and Rieker told the commissioners on Nov. 8 that a project on the way to the ZHB now seems at first glance like it would qualify.
The application in question is for a residence on the 1400 block of Sandy’s Lane, according to the planning and zoning officer, and the applicant is requesting that the side yard setback be 13 feet when a minimum of 25 feet is currently required by code. That request is scheduled to be heard by the zoning hearing board on Nov. 23, Rieker told the board, and updates will be given to the commissioners in future meetings.
One action item that will be up for board approval on Nov. 16 will be a presentation from Merck for preliminary and final land development approval of construction on what they’ve termed “Building 63A,” which would be the latest in a series of building approvals and expansions presented by the company in recent months. Specifics about that building were not discussed during the Nov. 8 meeting, but meeting documents indicate that project will add roughly 74,000 square feet of new manufacturing space within the company’s West Point complex, and has already been vetted by the township’s planning commission.
Elsewhere in the township, revised plans for a community now known as “Wheatley Way” for 17 townhouses on a property on Sumneytown Pike have now been approved by the township planning commission, and could be back to the commissioners soon for preliminary and final land development approval.
“That’s working its way toward a potential action by you, in all likelihood in December,” Rieker said.
And two other zoning items are also on the docket: a lot line adjustment for two properties on the 800 block of Sumneytown Pike, and zoning board approval for a roof over an elevated deck and patio on the 800 block of Ridgeview Drive, Rieker said.
Open space study underway
Township engineer Erik Gruenes reported that he and his engineering frim have begun tackling a new project: a township-wide study of all open spaces and streams, triggered “after we noticed a lot of the complaints we got about flooding in back yards, neighborhoods and such” during heavy floods.
The study will focus on areas where storm debris accumulates and/or where extra maintenance tends to be needed after storms, Gruenes told the board, and will build on current monitoring that the firm does, “so it won’t be as catastrophic as it was during Ida,” the heavy flooding experienced in 2020.
Commissioner Martha Simelaro asked if the study would expand on previous talks by the board on open space maintenance, and Township Manager Sandra Brookley Zadell said it would. Commissioner Ruth Damsker asked if it would also evaluate tree damage and debris caused by other sources, and Gruenes said it would, citing one spotted pest in particular.
“The lanternfly problem is creating a lot more debris, all the time,” he said.
Bids rejected for another try
The commissioners also voted on Nov. 8 to reject a set of bids for snow plowing and equipment and try again.
“We don’t often recommend rejecting a bid, but this came in much higher — three times higher — than it came in the previous year, so we would like to rebid it,” Zadell said.
No specifics were provided about those bid results, but Zadell said only one company responded to the township’s request for bids, and a second round from the township will seek more interested firms. Bids for dense soda ash needed for the township’s wastewater treatment plant also came in “much higher than what we paid in previous years,” Zadell added, but that item were up for approval Nov. 16, as will another wastewaterplant item.
“The last one: ‘Gallery painting,’ that did not come in at an unreasonable rate, so we will be recommending the board approve it, and that will be the last bid project for the flood repairs,” the manager said, referring to flooding in summer 2020.
“It’s always exciting to finish things,” Zadell said.