Heidleberg Materials' revision of its Perkiomenville Quarry application for expansion and changes to its reclamation obligations sparked a long discussion during the public comment session at last week's Marlborough supervisors meeting. The supervisors also discussed the fate of the barn at Finland Road Park.

            Resident Marya Schoenholtz asked if the township will be reviewing the revised quarry application which stipulated that filling the quarry with water was reinstated as an option alongside reclamation fill. Post-mining use was changed from commercial/industrial to unsupervised natural habitat.

            "I'm wondering if that was the only change," Schoenholtz said. "It should be something that gets reviewed because it restarted the entire process."

            The supervisors assured her that the township engineers will study the new application.

            Schoenholtz urged the supervisors and Solicitor Mark Cappuccio to resubmit the concerns they expressed at the quarry hearing held by the PA Department of Environmental Protection on March 20.

            Specifically, Schoenholtz mentioned Cappuccio's point about the expansion of the quarry into a 1.3 acre square that should be limited by a 1993 court order.

            However, at last week's meeting, Cappuccio said that, upon further research, Marlborough had enacted a zoning change that allowed the quarry to expand.

            Schoenholtz countered that the zoning map used by the quarry was drawn in 1970. "The 1993 court order forbids them from expanding their original parcel boundary and that corner is outside their original parcel boundary."

            Schoenholtz also brought up the dust issue discussed at the March 20 meeting claiming that the preponderance of dust from quarry operations and track traffic puts the owners in violation of Marlborough zoning regulations.

            "What measures are available to us as residents when a property is in violation of zoning?"

            Cappuccio said the township has no control over that; it is a DEP concern, but Schoenholtz noted that Marlborough zoning states that truckloads must be covered coming out of the quarry.

            Cappuccio was pessimistic about Marlborough residents finding relief through the courts. "It's not ineffective zoning. I've always said, Commonwealth Court has never seen a quarry they don't like."

            "The quarry does need to adhere to the township's zoning laws outside of their boundaries," insisted Schoenholtz. "And if our zoning laws say they cannot create dusty conditions, and they are creating dusty conditions, they're in violation of the law.

            "It feels like it's well within our rights to extend some enforcement of laws to protect us and the rights we do have, which is to a dust-free environment,"

            Resident Tim Leach maintained that other quarries take better care of the environment than Perkiomenville does, including the regular use of street sweepers. "It's the Wild West. They operate whatever hours they want to. There's never any approval."

            Schoenholtz and other residents urged the township to more strictly enforce regulations, get violations on the record, and draw attention to the large overburden–rock and soil that is removed to reach a mineral deposit–that exists on Perkiomenville and Upper Ridge roads, near the parcel of land the quarry would like to expand into.

            Resident Bruce Jackson suggested the supervisors insist on the water reclamation option.

            "The moment we let them put one truckload of reclamation in there, any thought of ever becoming some type of public use water resource would go out the window," he said.

            Earlier in the meeting, Township Manager/Secretary Marybeth Cody asked the supervisors for direction on the Finland Road Park barn.

            Marlborough's had applied for a $150,000 Local Share Account (LSA) grant for new siding, roof repair, and new doors. The grant came in at only $75,000.

            Cody wrote the LSA Program to request a "change in the scope" of the grant."

            In a letter, Cody revised the request by asking for funding to remove the barn and build a new pole barn "that will resemble the original structure but be more functional and sustainable."

            The commonwealth agency agreed to rescope the grant request and Cody asked the supervisors for direction before approaching LSA again.

            Supervisor Brian Doremus was adamantly opposed to a new building, noting that residents who attended a recent park board meeting expressed a desire to save the barn.

            Parks and Recreation Board Member Burt Shive and Cody estimated the cost of a new barn at $150,000 and Shive claimed that the old barn could be sold for $30,000 to $100,000.

           Shive, who said he has been in and out of the building over the last 10 years, claimed the barn is deteriorating and expressed concern about one of the main beams breaking.

            "The bottom line is, the main beams holding up the entire barn, at base, are sagging and it's either we remove the barn or it's going to remove itself," Shive said.

            Resident Tim Leach suggested a "piecemeal" approach to restoring the barn, starting with fixing the roof and some beams.

            "I think we got to explore this a little bit more. The public, generally, wants to save it. I know it can be saved. The question is who's paying for it and it can be done in a strategic time period."

            Chairman Billy Hurst directed Cody to seek replacement price estimates and to try and determine what the barn would be worth to buyers.

            Supervisor Bill Jacobs was in favor of putting the barn out for bid to learn how much it might be worth. 

            With a 2-1 vote, the supervisors approved a letter of support for Natural Land Trust's purchase of Camp Delmont's 683 acres. The trust intends to transfer the property to the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry. It will then become part of the William Penn Forest District and will be open to the public year-round.

            Doremus, who vote no, raised several issues, including whether the Boy Scouts were going to be able to continue to use their former property.

            Cody responded that Scouts would be allowed to camp on the property.

            "If more people are getting into the site, this is open to the public, then policing and emergency services, rescue, fire. Are all those going to fall on the community?" Doremus also asked.

            Doremus also expressed concern for the residents who border the property. "You're going to be inviting people at random to walk very close to all of your backyards."

            "My concern is that it gets used," said Jacobs, "and it sounds like it will be."

            The supervisors also authorized Alderfer Auction to handle the sale of a township-owned property on Swamp Creek. The township had acquired the property through a tax lien in 2018. A dilapidated structure on the property has been razed.

            During public comment at the end of the marathon meeting, Ed Williams, owner of Camp Trinity, on Price Road, in Green Lane, complained about the frequent power outages at the camp and PECO's indifference.

          Williams claimed the property has suffered a loss of PECO power 40 times since 2023.

            "During the summer we have 250 children there, some of them have disabilities. And all PECO keeps saying is, 'Oh you're only three residents there'. It becomes a dangerous situation."

            Williams said PECO had recently marked trees for removal in PECO's easement but now has decided to site poles on private property.

            Williams said he gave PECO permission to cut at least 26 trees on his property, but the trees have not been removed and summer camping season is fast approaching.

            "You call them up you get nobody," complained Williams.

            "They don't respond to [the township] either," said Hurst.

            Williams also vented about the lack of progress repairing the Price Road bridge, which was closed after Hurricane Ida storm damage in 2021.

            "We've been asking non-stop about that bridge," said Doremus.

            Before the meeting, an executive session to discuss a legal matter was held.

            The supervisors will hold a workshop session at 6 p.m., April 28. The May monthly meeting will be at 7 p.m., on the 14th. Both meetings are at the township building.