Supervisors introduced three planning related items at their regular monthly meeting on Monday evening. The items include adding an engineering sign-off block on plans submitted to the township, appointing a flood plains code administrator and beginning to craft a grading ordinance.

While the first two items were straight forward, the supervisors learned the grading ordinance might need some work and investigation due to new regulations introduced by Chapter 102 of the Pennsylvania Code that govern the disturbance of more than an acre or 5,000 square feet of ground."A significant revision has occurred to Chapter 102 that has made the regulations much more restrictive and requires the need for a permit if more than an acre or 5,000 square feet of earth are disturbed," said Carbon Builder Association member and local developer Jake Arner.Arner told officials the regulations were adopted in part due to the trend of transient developers irresponsibly moving and changing the landscape during building projects.He informed supervisors the CBA was sponsoring a workshop to discuss the new guidelines and invited any of the supervisors to attend if they wanted.While officials originally wanted to begin crafting a grading ordinance, they agreed in light of this information they should research what the state enacted to ensure they do not conflict.In other business, supervisors unanimously agreed to appoint T&M Engineering representative Tim Edinger as the flood plains code administrator for the township. The position was created by a previous ordinance dealing with erosion and wetlands, but was never filled. Edinger had recommended to supervisors that they should appoint someone to handle the issue so the ordinance can be enforced.Supervisors felt that Edinger was the best choice since as township engineer he is involved in the planning and development occurring in the township. This motion carried unanimously.The final issue is more a technical item regarding the planning approval process. Currently, the engineer approves the preliminary plan and it moves forward to the supervisors and planning commission. At that point revisions are made to it, but the engineer is not required to review it again to make sure the plan is sound. Chairperson John Wieczorek said he believed the engineer should have another opportunity to make sure the plan shows what it is supposed to depict."Right now the engineer doesn't see it again so it could be changed without his knowledge, but his recommendations could be overlooked. Fortunately we have had good developers here that have abided by the plans, but it would be better for the engineer to make a second review further in the process," said Wieczorek.Wieczorek asked Nanovic to develop a policy to give the engineer the opportunity for a second review."We can add the requirement to Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance is revised, but for now we can just adopt a policy to make the requirement," said Nanovic who agreed to have it for the next meeting on February 14th.Nanovic also mentioned there would be a brief hearing at the start of the February meeting to discuss ordinances for non-conforming lots and wind turbines.