BUCKS COUNTY CONSORTIUM

Thursday, April 7, 2005

Meeting Minutes

A meeting of the Bucks County Consortium was held at Warminster Township on April 7, 2005. The following individuals were present:

Preliminary Remarks

Jeffrey Vey called the meeting to order, announced the morning's agenda, and thanked Warminster Township for sponsoring the April meeting of the Bucks County Consortium.

Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer’s Report for March was presented. A motion was made by Paul Williams, and seconded by Eileen Bradley, to approve the Treasurer’s Report for March. Motion carried.

Presentation: “PennDOT Permits, Maintenance & Capital Improvements”

Francis J. Haney is the Traffic Control Services Manager for PennDOT District 6-0. One of his primary responsibilities is the review and issuance of highway occupancy permits for land development. He has moved to District 6-0 from District 5-0, and is interested in having an earlier interaction with municipalities and developers in order to achieve better highway design. Mr. Haney discussed proposal review, and the process and improvement of communication with developers and municipalities.

Dawn Knisely is the Bucks County Maintenance Manager. She discussed four primary topic areas. These included PennDOT’s Bucks County profile, personnel resources, responsibilities, and priorities. Important points covered in each of these areas are as follows:

• PennDOT’s Bucks County Profile – 620 total square miles which include twenty-three boroughs, thirty-one townships, and a population of 600,000.

• Personnel Resources – There are six assistant managers, twelve foremen, seventy-two operators, two skilled bridge workers, three sign crew members, two masons, fifteen garage staff, and nine administrative personnel. The total workforce is 121.

• Responsibilities – The workforce is responsible to maintain roadway structures, shoulder structures, bridges, some cross pipes, inlet tops, some inlets, endwalls, drainage swales, guiderails, right-of-way vegetation, and snow removal. In all there is a responsibility to maintain 995 road miles, 2,300 lane miles, 770 bridges, 16,262 inlets and more than 1.1 million feet of pipe.

• Priorities – The priorities of PennDOT’s Bucks County Maintenance Department are determined by many organizations and individuals. Included are the PennDOT central office, the District Administrator, Assistant District Administrator, Assistant County Managers (4), Roadway Programs Coordinator, Legislators (14), Borough Managers (14), Township Managers (31), residents (600,000), and the traveling public. Specific incidents are prioritized based on the severity of the road hazard, average daily traffic count, maintenance functional class, and resource availability.

Ms. Knisely concluded her presentation with an identification and discussion of its current and upcoming projects. Questions from the membership included those related to the timetable for the completion of specific projects, permit processes, project funding, preliminary approvals, timetables, cost overruns, agility programs, and acquiring and retaining good project managers. Jeff Vey discussed pre-application efforts, and outcomes.

Website Development

Bob Pellegrino updated the membership on a project to develop a Bucks County Consortium website. First, he reported that the domain names “buckscountyconsortium.org” and “buckscountyconsortium.com” were reserved at a cost of approximately $20.00 per year. Second, he reported that Bucks County has given permission for the use by the Bucks County Consortium of its seal. And third, he reported on a webpage development proposal.

The membership discussed the proposal. Included in the discussion was the site’s content, and maintenance requirements. William McCauley then made a motion, seconded by Stephanie Mason, to accept the proposal of Kathleen Kimble, a Newtown Township employee, for website development at a cost of between $1,500 and $2,000.

Jeffrey Vey, as he did in March, reported that some police contracts are available at Milford Township's website. He asked that members continue to send contracts for placement on the page. The preferred format is a PDF file.

Minutes

Richard Sabol reported that the draft minutes should read “3 February 2005” as opposed to “3 March 2005”. Incorporating this change, John Cornelius made a motion, seconded by Stephanie Mason, to approve the Minutes of 3 March2005. Motion carried.

Old & New Business

Jeff Vey asked if any members would be willing to host future meetings. Dana Cozza stated that Buckingham Township would host the May meeting, and Stephanie Mason stated that Doylestown Township would host the June meeting. Jeff Vey reported that Timothy P. O’Reilly, a well known labor attorney, and Steve Fallon, a well known insurance specialist, would be available to present at the next meeting.

Linda Wieand asked the membership for information concerning special police details. Included in the subsequent discussion were how they are paid, whether or not members have had success using outside agencies, establishing formal agreements, and the calculation of hourly rates.

Adjourn

Paul Williams made a motion, seconded by Robert Pellegrino to adjourn the April meeting of the Bucks County Consortium @ approximately 10:30AM. Motion carried.

Respectfully submitted,

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