Walnut Walk settlement reached; 2014 Po-Mar-Lin audit completed
By Karen Cresta, Staff Writer, The Times
EAST MARLBOROUGH – The township’s Board of Supervisors took an additional step on Monday night to address the wear and tear on East Doe Run Road from heavy truck traffic and will be conducting a survey as part of imposing a weight-limit ordinance. In addition to the traffic survey, a settlement was announced with the builder of Walnut Walk and the long-delayed 2014 audit for Po-Mar-Lin Fire Company was completed.
During September’s meeting, the board discussed the damage to East Doe Run Road caused by Diamond State Recycling Company which was observed using East Doe Run Road up to six times a day to haul scrap metal to Wilmington because the trucks are unable to make the turn at Route 926. Chief Robert Clarke suggested placing a restriction on the road to solve the constant cost issue to maintain the deteriorating roadway.
An alternate route would be state maintained roads, Route 1 to Route 82, better equipped and built to a higher standard to handle the heavy load. Last month, chairman Cuyler Walker asked Township Solicitor Frone Crawford to research the process of enforcing a weight restriction ordinance.
Crawford did just that and drafted a proposed ordinance to ban trucks over the weight-limit but a traffic survey would be required first. The board will need to verify what upper weight-limit needs to be posted on the roadway and ensure that all emergency services’ vehicles, buses and trash removal trucks can still utilize the road, including local delivery trucks.
Crawford will continue to do his due diligence in researching such an ordinance and the options and Township Manager Jane Laslo will contact Traffic Planning and Development to conduct the traffic survey.
Regis Company, the builders for Walnut Walk (formerly Walnut Ridge), and the township reached a settlement regarding a price per townhouse unit for open space. Regis Company pushed back on paying $1,000 per unit to the township for open space considering there will be on-site recreational facilities like a play area, a trail, and a volleyball court. The settlement will have the company pay $500 per unit for Phase II. This settlement will provide $26,000 to the township’s open space funds and the board unanimously approved it.
In other board business, the trustee of Po-Mar-Lin Fire Company, Jeffrey Groves, apologized for the long-delayed 2014 audit results that were due on June 1. The certified audit was previously required for the first time by the board and this was the first time a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) performed the audit for the fire company – in previous years, residents with qualifications were called upon. Groves attributed the delay to tax season and having to go back in depth for previous years’ information. He informed the board that moving forward the audit will be easier.
“I don’t think you’ll find anything out of place, at least the auditor didn’t find anything,” Groves stated.
The board will review the audit that was handed out Monday evening and Groves offered to sit down with any of the supervisors for additional review if needed.
In other news, details regarding a water drainage issue for a homeowner residing in the Belrose community were addressed by Linda Edmondson, homeowner association representative. According to Edmondson and the homeowner, repeated basement flooding is attributed to improper grading of the approved lot plan and results in rainwater pooling and draining into the basement of the home. They requested support from the township to pressure the developer, Woodstone Homes, to rectify the situation by regrading the area.
Township Engineer Jim Hatfield agreed that regrading is the best solution but cautioned the homeowner and the board that he cannot be certain that it will definitely solve all the water issues.
“This board would like to bring pressure on the builder. The way to do that is to meet at the site and try to get everyone on the same page,” Walker stated.
The board approved a request by Greg Papiernick, Director of Public Safety at Longwood Gardens, to re-direct holiday traffic on Greenwood Road as necessary if satellite parking is needed due to lot capacity or poor field conditions.
Also approved was a request for an additional day of road closure on Green Valley Road during the ToughMudder event to ensure safety on both days, scheduled for October 17 and 18, at Plantation Field on Route 82.
