Town Council Meeting 9/12/2017

Town Council Meeting 9/12/2017

I was a little late getting to the Town Council meeting today.  You know, Marlton traffic.  I walked in as Mr D’Andrea was solemnly discussing 9-11 and first responders, and a moment of silence was held.  Following that was the swearing in of 4 new police officers.  Watching that was quite moving, these young guys (between the ages of 25 and 28) with their families at their side, signing up for the job they do, following a moment of silence for their comrades-in-arm who perished doing that same job, while I sit in front of a computer all day is quite humbling indeed.    I don’t say it enough, but thank you to all who serve and those who gave all.  

The swearing in turned out to be quite jovial, with the mayor speaking with each new patrolman and their families in turn, finding out their hobbies, why they became officers, college attended, and whether they played football or not.

Following the swearing in, Don Elsas from the Multiple Sclerosis Society spoke about the City to Shore Bike Tour, which will be going through Marlton again this year on September 23-24^th.  Information about the event can be found here.

It is the 2^nd largest Bike MS event in the country, and last year there were 7000 riders.  The path goes down Kettle Run Road again this year.  Mr D’Andrea brought up the fact that after last years race, there was discussion to fix that road to make it safer for bikes or move the route off Kettle Run Road.  He made the same vow again this year.  As per Mr Elsas, only 16% of funds raised goes towards administration, and 40% of funds raised stays local.

Following this was a presentation of work done to neighborhood parks over the past 7 years with grants from the state and/or county.  There was mention of the upgrades done in 2011 (Evesboro Downs), 2012 (Memorial Park), 2013 (Brush Hollow, Heathrow and Cambridge), 2014 (Evesboro Downs again, paving the driveway to eliminate the dust kicked up by all the cars), 2016 (Dog Park).  These years may be off, because it was difficult to tell whether the years given were when the work was performed or when the grants were received.  There was a motion to add additional funds to the contract that is being used to rehabilitate the Country Farms and Green Lane parks to include Ravenscliff Park.  Apparently buying in bulk drives the price down, so adding Ravenscliff Park to the work order doesn’t make the price go up by that much.

There was also mention that Country Farms, Healthrow and Glen Eyre will all be getting new ‘Tot Lots’,  new playground equipment.  I had a chance to speak to Nancy afterwards, and the equipment was ordered over the summer, and everything should be ready for installation shortly. 

The talk then turned to redevelopment of the Harvest House Lot.  It was noted that this is just in the preliminary stages.  Bob Logan, an architect from Barton Partners, took the floor to discuss the preliminary design.

• ·         The Harvest House would be picked up and moved 120 feet forward and placed on a new foundation.
• ·          Only the original house would be moved, the 1976 addition would be demolished
• ·         Harvest House will have ground floor commercial space and 2 apartments above.  The town holds the option to use the ground floor for public use, such as an arts center (which Mr D'Andrea spoke out in favor of)
• ·         Behind the Harvest House, a single structure containing 51 apartments will be built.  It will be 4 stories with garages on the ground floor.
• ·         Mr D’Andrea noted that he is against having a 4 story building and would prefer a 3 story building.  He also stated that if you review the record, he was against a 4 story building on Main and Maple as well.
• ·         The parking lot and easements for this new complex would be combined with the parking for the Main Street Apartments.

·         One confusing issue, the optimal plan has an off-site drainage basin.  I spoke with a couple people afterwards, and it seemed like the site for this basin was not part of the Harvest House property (hence offsite) and not yet procured.  On the left is Google Maps satellite view of the property.  I believe the property in the red oval is where the basin will be.  On the right is the diagram from the presentation tonight.  The concentric squares is the location in question.

There wasn’t a lot of public comment.  Rosemary Bernardi asked about a couple of the consent agenda items, specifically 288-2017 (which apparently Evesham owns some land in the Olga’s vicinity, which will be turned in public parking.  I’m not certain why we need public parking there) and 298-2017, which confirmed the repaving of Brick Road from 73 to the Cherry Hill border.

There were also 2 members of the public who asked about ordinance 25-10-2017, which will codify who can use public fields.  It would appear that the issue was some teams with out of town players (or some out of town teams) were using fields without a contract with the Marlton Rec Council and without paying any fees.  Mr Zeuli expressed his exasperation that we need to do this and will definintely be involved in drafting the ordinance to make sure that whatever is done benefits the children of Evesham.  Mr D’Andrea also noted his frustration but sees the need in drafting an ordinance.  This was the first public reading.  If this topic is of interest to you, you should definintely watch the video when it comes out to hear Tom C’s and Mayor Brown’s explanation of the issue.  And you should plan on attending the next town council meeting.

 That’s all the notes I have.  The meeting closed with mention of the Harvest Fest on September 23.

Update 9/13/2017: One item I neglected to include, the town is currently in negotiations with 3 potential tenants for the Main Street Apartments commercial space. One of them is a coffee shop/restaurant that serves paninis.  The owners are a local family that currently have 3 facilities in Philly.  They are looking at a 50 seat interior, with additional exterior seating on the sidewalk.  There was no mention of the other two potential tenants.