Red Hill officials said they are still looking for some major changes to the development planned for Hendricks Road before it can move forward.  And they don't want their time wasted.

Engineer Ryan Kern said at the March 9 borough council meeting that a lot of work would need to be done to the existing plans, and said that the next borough planning commission meeting to review a second draft of the plans would be in May at the earliest.

        Council and planning commission member Larry Morton voiced his concerns about the process.

"To me it's a waste of time to come with these expensive drawings and there's so many problems with them."

        Kern agreed. "We've been seeing them for two years now, and the number [of units] has never dropped." The density of the townhomes on the plan, currently at 200, continues to be a source of concern for officials and nearby property owners. Kern stated that the number of units should be closer to 150.

        Mayor Dave Schiffgens, who also serves as chair for the borough planning commission, reported that representative Ben Goldthorpe for developer Select Properties was presented with letters from the Montgomery County Planning Commission and the borough's solicitors and engineers at the February commission meeting.

        As for the plans presented by Goldthorpe at the meeting, Schiffgens said, "The planning commission had to digest it."

        "They are going to have to do some major rework on design," he added. Regarding the revisions asked for in the letters, Schiffgens noted, "A lot of these things are must-haves and we're not going to back off."

        In recycling news, committee chair Faith Diascro reported that the borough was having difficulty finding a hauler for glass. She stated that haulers now want fees, whereas before the borough had a hauler who was transporting the glass for free.

        Council president Doris Decker commented, "We went from them paying us to take it, to them not charging us, to us paying them to take it."

        "I would feel differently if it was a service strictly for Red Hill," she added, noting that residents of adjoining communities made use of the Red Hill facility.

        Maintenance supervisor Conrad Bender is going to continue to look for other options for glass recycling, and the council tabled further decisions until April.

        Diascro also reported that Emmaus Borough will be holding a special recycling event at their municipal park on April 16 from 9:00 am to noon. There will be fees for some types of recycling.

        In fire-related news, Red Hill Fire Marshal John Lehr reported that the pumps had been removed from the 7^th and Main gas station site, but the property owner needed to still do some clean up and graffiti removal.  The new Fire Chief for Red Hill, Mike Eshbach, also attended the meeting and introduced himself.