East Greenville Council is moving forward with plans to update its zoning ordinance.   During Monday's workshop meeting, the members voted to advertise the changes prior to their next meeting.

            Timothy Konetchy, with the Montgomery County Planning Commission, appeared at the meeting to present the proposal. He described the adjustments, necessary to modernize the borough's ordinances, as relatively minor. 

            "It's going to be good," council President Angie Fegely said.

             The project's scope – which included nine months of meetings between the municipality's planning commission and an MCPC Community Planner – includes updating how uses are regulated, reviews each zoning district, updates parking/loading requirements, replaces the telecommunications section and includes other updates as necessary.

            The borough's zoning map will not change, according to Konetchy. He informed the members that while the permitted uses will not change, some of their names will be updated.

            Additional zoning adjustments will include dimensional editing in a "small way," such as the review of aerial imagery and property assessment data to ensure dimensional standards where appropriate. It also reduces the maximum height of a structure in the LI-Light Industrial and IN-Institutional districts from 60 to 40 feet, according to the planner.

            The proposed ordinance also includes a porch requirement for new construction in the R-2 Residential, BC-Borough Commercial and BR- Borough Residential districts on Main Street. It prescribes specific minimum dimensions required to ensure that a porch is usable, according to Konetchy's PowerPoint presentation.

            The municipality has $248,042.52 in remaining COVID-19 money, which is considered revenue replacement, according to Fegely. She said after the meeting that council has until June 2024 to spend that money.

            According to the council president, the additional money has not been allocated. She said the members have not set a timetable to make those decisions.

            The board voted to purchase two snow blowers from a Longswamp Township business. The members unanimously approved a motion to spend no more than $3,700 to buy the machines from the R.H. Lorish Mower Shop LLC, located at 3102 Woodside Ave.

            The borough's current blower, which is old, will be retained and stored at one location, according to Manager Jim Fry. He said two new blowers are necessary to deal with multiple public locations throughout the municipality that the borough's plows can't access.

            Mayor Stephen Wescott did not attend the meeting. Member Alison Palmer participated in the early portion of the meeting on the phone but did not cast a vote.

            Council held an executive session immediately prior to Monday's meeting. The members discussed legal and personnel issues, according to Fegely.