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Heidelberg Township supervisors unanimously agreed to re-advertise a proposed nuisance ordinance for a public hearing after making adjustments based on feedback received Tuesday.
Heidelberg first held a public hearing for the ordinance in June, when residents expressed concerns that the ordinance over-restricted natural landscaping, composting and sump pump drainage.
Read more: Heidelberg Township to adjust nuisance ordinance following resident concerns
Changes to the ordinance are as follows:
- Added an exemption to a ban on sump draining onto the street in the case of a foundation drain or from storm- or fire-related broken water line, as well as requiring a 10-foot separation from the end of the sump pump discharge to the street “whenever practicable.”
- Added an exemption on the ban on accumulating dead vegetation in the case of properly executed composting.
- Added an exemption to the ban on grass over 10 inches in the case of natural landscaping that follows certain requirements.
- Adding that the ordinance is meant to be “construed as consistent” with the provisions of the International Property Maintenance Code.
Changes were made to the draft last month, but the board opted to leave the updated draft on the website for a month to see if residents requested additional changes. In that time, supervisors said, the township has not received any feedback.
As of Wednesday, attempting to access the final draft on Heidelberg’s website begets an error 404 message. However, LebTown was able to access the revised version of the ordinance through a document scraper, as the updated version had been briefly posted.
The hearing for the updated ordinance will be held at the board’s Sept. 24 meeting, when it will be adopted if no additional changes are made.
Supervisors emphasized that the township will not seek out violations. The ordinance was primarily drafted, supervisor Ted Cromleigh said, because the township had no way of resolving resident complaints of free-range animals entering their property.
Could the paving of Michters and Valley View Roads be on the horizon?
Following a discussion on the pursuit of grant monies for dirt and gravel roads, Cromleigh asked the board if they would be willing to discuss gradually paving Michters and Valley View roads.
Chairman Paul Fetter said he was willing to consider it, agreeing with Cromleigh that the township has put a lot of time and money into maintaining the roads over time.
Cromleigh said 1.4 miles of Michters Road are unpaved, as are .7 miles of Valley View. He said it may be worth considering paving a half-mile of them each year.
With budget season coming up, Cromleigh said he wanted to further consider the possibility during budget meetings.
In other news, the supervisors:
- Unanimously approved a quote of $20,669.88 from Gebble for line painting for Valley View, Michters, and Obie roads. They also requested the painting of the south side of the Market Square intersection, not to exceed $23,199 total.
- Unanimously agreed to select Century Engineers to appraise a small triangle the township is looking to obtain from PennDOT, for a rate of $1,200.
- Unanimously agreed to make a $204,142.80 payment for road work.
- Unanimously agreed to make a payment of $208,251 for building exterior renovations.
- Unanimously agreed to a conditions agreement for Michters Road Bridge, to document the surrounding conditions of the bridge both pre- and post-repair.
- Unanimously agreed to approve pension contributions for 2025 at the MMO of $55,729, nearly half last year’s contribution.
- Unanimously agreed to allow fire police to provide traffic control for the Stars Hollow Pop-Up Fall Fest, a Gilmore Girls-themed outdoor event to be held Oct. 24-26 at Schaeffer Farm.
- Unanimously agreed to approve a contract for the inspection and fixing of red lights.
- Unanimously agreed to replace a K-ville sewage pump for $9,734.67.
- Unanimously agreed to adopt a resolution supporting America 250PA.
- Unanimously agreed to approve a stormwater management plan for the Lavern Martin plan, waiving the requirement for a wetlands study.
- Unanimously agreed to approve a plan for a single-family home on an unnumbered site on Sinclair Road, as well as tie the occupancy permit for the home to the developers’ movement of a shed on the floodplain.
- Unanimously agreed to a plan to subdivide 2.6 acres on Sinclair Road, deferring development-related requirements until a development plan is submitted.
- Directed solicitor Amy Leonard contact the former solicitor to discuss old HTMA Legal Paperwork to determine if he has any original documents.
- Unanimously approved a five-year renewal of the EIT collection contract with Keystone.
- Unanimously agreed to grant a time extension to a plan at 2407 5th Ave.
Heidelberg Township’s Board of Supervisors meets the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. These meetings are open to the public.
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