At the Marlborough Township Board of Supervisors meeting last week, a discussion about the Green Lane Marlborough Joint Authority's desire to take over the Candlewyck community sewer plant reignited debate about the development's seemingly endless dedication process.

            Candlewyck developer Fred Macintosh still has several items to correct, ranging from planting bare root whips to improving the condition of Knight Road in the development, before the township will take possession.

            As the supervisors and Solicitor Mark Cappuccio deliberated about the sewer situation, Stephanie Long, a board member of the Candlewyck Homeowners Association (HOA), joined the conversation via Zoom and pleaded with the supervisors to get the dedication done.

            "Planting whips, that are going to die anyway, seems like a silly reason to hold up this dedication," Long said. "Actually, I'd love for there to be a compromise where we can say just sign off."

            She suggested that the township consult with the homeowners to determine if things are "good enough."

            Chairman Billy Hurst, who admitted he has not seen the punch list of necessary corrections in a long time, said, "It's not as easy as just saying come to a compromise with that."

            Hurst and Supervisor Brian Doremus insisted that requirements must be fulfilled, even if they were agreed to over a decade ago.

            Because the development is not dedicated, Upper Perkiomen school buses will not enter the development, the township does not snowplow and the township does no road maintenance.

            "[Macintosh] has absolutely no reason to close this off and you guys really have absolutely no reason to take it," Long said, "because when the road gets dedicated you guys have to care for it.

            "We feel like we're kind of stuck between these two groups that really can very easily shirk responsibility in both ways and we're the unfortunate beneficiaries of that."

            Hurst responded, "We're not shirking our responsibility. Fred made promises to the township and he hasn't lived up to his agreement yet."

            Long asked the supervisors what they are doing to bring about a resolution. "Have you given him a deadline? When will you draw the line and say, 'Have it done by now or x?' What is your remediation here?"

            Cappuccio explained that, while the township is anxious to have dedication take place, taking on the developer's unfulfilled requirements would cost the taxpayers of Marlborough. The solicitor suggested that the HOA should go to Macintosh.

            "We have no say, we have no authority over either one of you, and therefore, we are not involved in the conversation in any way," Long countered. "I don't know what the real list is. In fact, we've asked you guys for the list and even that's hard to get sometimes. No one ever knows what the real list is. We are looking for the township to go to bat for us on our behalf."

            Long also told the supervisors that the HOA feels that Knight Road is fine as it is.

            "As a taxpayer in Marlborough Township, I have driven around your actual dedicated roads that are in much worse shape than Knight Road."

             She also pointed out that the residents of Candlewyck pay property taxes in Marlborough without getting the full benefits.

            "We have our own sewer plant, we all have well water, and you guys haven't plowed or anything because we don't have dedicated roads," Long pointed out.

             "So, as far as I'm concerned, if you have to pave that in the next one year or five years, you got the money because you have been collecting it from us for 15 years."

            Doremus responded that roads are paid for out of Pennsylvania's liquid fuels money that cannot be applied for until the road is dedicated. Doremus also claimed that accepting a road still in need of work would unfairly burden all the taxpayers of Marlborough.

            "So, what have you spent my property tax money on?" Long retorted.

            She did not get an answer.

            Long asked again what it would take to move the developer to live up to his obligations.

            "We would have to sue him," Hurst said.

            Many municipalities require a large escrow account from the developer to cover the eventuality now plaguing Marlborough. Unfinished work can then be done by the municipality and paid for from the escrow account.

            However, the small escrow account held by Marlborough is dedicated to professional fees only, fees that might be charged by an engineer or solicitor.

            Marlborough is trying to renew a letter of credit from a bank which would give the township some leverage with the developer, but it is a complicated process.

            In the meantime, the best the supervisors could promise, as they have for the past two years, is to try and dialogue with Macintosh.

            Long was told to file a Right-to-Know request for the punch list. Township officials responded June 15 to a request filed by the Town and Country – requesting any and all documents from the punch list related to the dedication of Candlewyck Estates by developer Fred MacIntosh – with a letter stating that they needed an additional 30 days to respond "due to bona fide staffing limitations." Municipal officials also checked a box stating that "a legal review is needed to determine whether the record is subject to access."

            After Long finished speaking, the supervisors returned to the item that had sparked the sidebar, Green Lane Marlborough Joint Authority's desire to take over Candlewyck's sewer plant.

            According to a letter from Eric Frey, of Dischell, Bartle & Dooley, representing the authority, the township would have to amend its Act 537 Sewage Facilities Planning to allow the transfer to occur.

            "I believe all of the parties involved want this to happen and that it would be a financial benefit to the community," Frey wrote.

            The supervisors voted to move the process forward.

            A representative for PennDOT's Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) unit presented a proposal to forbid pedestrian crossing at the intersection of Knight Road and Gravel Pike because there is no sidewalk, curbing, or navigable shoulder on Knight Road.

            Malik Anibaba, from Dawood Engineering, explained that the request stems from liability issues and is in conjunction with the recent resurfacing of Gravel Pike. PennDOT asked for the township's "concurrence" in erecting warning signs.

            The supervisors went against the advice of Solicitor Cappuccio and rejected the PennDOT request. Supervisor Bill Jacobs labeled it a "freedom of choice" issue.

            No signs will be put up by PennDOT. 

            Attorney Chris Mullaney addressed the supervisors on behalf of Robert Landis, the owner of the Perkiomen Auction and Flea Market, who is seeking a reduction of his $ 5,000-a-year vendor's license fee.

            Mullaney presented background information on the origin of the fee, producing a 1993 letter signed by his father, Gerald Mullaney, which summarized the fee payment schedule.

            Chris Mullaney explained that, at the time the agreement with Marlborough Township was made, the Perkiomen Sales and Livestock Company was attracting 10,000 visitors and three to four hundred vendors.

            The contract with the township allowed Landis to collect the vendors' fees for a master permit instead of individual sellers inundating the township with traffic, paperwork and enforcement issues.

            Landis claims that he now gets only about 25 vendors a week and that Marlborough's permitting requirement puts him at a competitive disadvantage.

            Mullaney asked for a "dramatic decrease" in the fee.

            Jacobs expressed his willingness to take a look at the issue and the other supervisors promised to review Landis' request.

            Police Chief Darren Morgan lauded the service of administrative assistant Carol Sturges who is stepped away from her position.

            "Carol was a great asset to us and she will be missed," Morgan said, adding that Sturges was particularly valuable in helping to secure grants for the department.

             Morgan also announced the hiring of two part-time officers. Dan Brown and Monica Minkiewicz were sworn in on June 11.