Tunk Planning Commission first look at warehouse land development plan

by Ruth Isenberg

The first Tunkhannock Township Planning Commission of 2023 started with a change in leadership. Kevin Wieand was elected as chair, on a secret 5-4 vote over prior chair Alex Jackson, who was elected as vice-chair. Township secretary Tina Kernan was re-elected secretary by unanimous voice vote.

The Planners will meet again in work session at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 25, then as needed every fourth Wednesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. A Zoom option will be available.

The business portion of the meeting opened with discussion of a letter received from the attorney for Route 115 Associates asking to have board members Jackson and Ellen Lott disqualified from consideration of its land development plan, charging bias on their part because they voted against their original proposal.

On advice of their solicitor, attorney Jim Tressler, the board rejected the petition, noting that the Planning Commission is an advisory, recommending body only, and does not have decision power. Even so, Lott spoke and recused herself from voting on the matter, saying she works hard to be unbiased and objective, and voted against the original application because she felt it was incomplete. However, she did not want to give Route 115 Associates any basis for a challenge to any upcoming decisions. Jackson did not recuse himself but said

See Tunk Planners, page 2

Tobyhanna Township is looking at a big bill to replace its aging heating and air conditioning (HVAC) system. Some of the system installed in the 1970s is still in use, and the most recent major upgrade was in the 1990s. It now heats and cools unevenly, and inefficiently. MartinRogers Engineering Consultants of Wilkes-Barre has been retained to spec-out what the required improvements to gain reliability and efficiency, along with better indoor air quality. Supervisors will be looking to use American Rescue Funds to do the work, at a cost to well-exceed $500,000.

Randall Levine P.E., president of MartinRogers, attended the Tobyhanna Township supervisors’ meeting on January 17 and answered questions. Levine agreed to have his firm prepare bid specifications for the work, at a cost of about $40,000.

As an addition to the agenda, supervisors received a letter of resignation from long-time tax collector Linda Woehrle, who has served since 1982. This was accepted, and supervisors will now have 30 days to appoint a replacement to serve until the next municipal election. Letters of interest should be submitted to Tobyhanna Township, 105 Government Center Way, Pocono Pines, PA 18350. In reports, the township’s use of Pocono Mountain Regional Police in 2022 ended the year 88 hours over, not far off 2021’s estimate.

The Pocono Summit Volunteer Fire Company is working towards buying “a mini pumper,” but has learned the manufacturer of the truck they want does not participate in the PA Co-Stars buying program. Council voted to authorize township manager Robert Bartol to obtain bids.

During the most recent snowstorm, the township’s 5500 dump truck went into a ditch while plowing. It is in for repairs. It’s also been decided to offer the DPW’s well-used about 8 year-old Gradall for sale, and there was discussion about how to price it on Municibid.

Supervisors appointed Keystone Consulting Engineers of Kresgeville as

See Tobyhanna Twp, page 2

Tunk Planners

Continued from page 1 he would fairly and objectively consider the proposal and has no bias. Route 115 Associate’s attorney, Kevin Walsh, noted that the letter was nothing personal against either of them, but was based on Pennsylvania case law.

The board encouraged Lott to participate in the discussion of the project, and she remained at the board table.

First up for discussion was a request for a subdivision of the Route 115 Associates property. The parcel is on both sides of Route 115. Project manager Kim Fasnacht explained that the northern lot has been tested and will support a sewage treatment system in the northeast corner. They propose developing that portion for a warehouse and are seeking a non-planning waiver for the south parcel.

Keystone Engineering, representing the township, has started reviewing the sewage planning module and highway occupancy permit applications. The sewage module was submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in October; the agency is reportedly short-handed and behind on testing and reviewing applications. Those pieces will have to be in place before the township supervisors will be able to vote on the proposal.

Recommendations by the Monroe County Planning Commission were discussed, including their notation of wetlands and steep slopes on the property; those are on the south parcel on the other side of Route 115.

The board voted to accept the subdivision plan for review.

Discussion turned to the proposed Route 115 Associates land development plan for the north parcel only. The planning module includes a reduced size of the building in order to place the sewage treatment sand mound and backup in the only area that would perc in the northeast corner, and the site elevation is lowered by five feet. The slope of the driveway has been decreased, the height of the back retainage wall has been increased but is lower than the height of the building, which remains the same as the original plan.

The sewage module submitted to the PA DEP is based on a figure of 240 employees, taken from data for a similar sized warehouse in the Lehigh Valley, and would cap usage at 3,000 gallons per day.

Route 115 Associates is working with a broker to find a tenant, and will have one in place before any construction would begin. Fasnacht noted that the process will take many months to complete, and while there could be some clearing of the lot based on the conditional use approval already made by the supervisors, there would not be any clearcutting with the next 90 days.

Planners had questions about some provisions of the conditional use memo, including the setback of the building from the highway, along with greenscaping and landscaping requirements.

Keystone is just beginning the review process of the revised building plans, and Fasnacht emphasized that Route 115 Associates is not requesting any waivers of the conditional use at this time. She expects the entire process to take up to a year.

Tunkhannock Township Volunteer Fire Company

Chief Byron Witt said the fire company had reviewed the proposal and had several comments. The TTVFC is asking for four ladder accesses to the roof, since the company does not have a

Tobyhanna Twp.

Continued from page 1 their traffic engineers for upcoming projects; Steven Gitch as their alternate sewage enforcement officer at $60 an hour; Flamm Walton and Heimbach as the township’s council for labor and employment matters at $270 an hour; and attorney High Swartz as special counsel for $235 an hour.

Supervisor Rachel Schickling is looking to assemble a committee to tackle revisions to the township’s SALDO ordinance.

In other business, supervisors approved renaming the east-west street behind the new Saint Luke’s clinic and offices in Pocono Summit as St. Luke’s Way at the request of Monroe County, and approved the installation of a water quality monitoring well in Roue 423 by the gas station in Pocono Pines.

Supervisors David Carbone ladder truck, and also for the project to have standpipes at the front and back of the structure. and Joseph Colyer were named to a committee to explore the regionalization of fire protection.

As far as a donation to the fire company goes, Route 115 Associates or the eventual user of the property would need a proposal from the township to consider.

The Planning Commission voted to accept the substantial package for review; the discussion will continue at the work session on January 25, as will a discussion of a potential zoning ordinance amendment for warehouse definitions.

The December treasurer’s report shows a general fund total of $8,807,191, a total of all funds at $13,949,824, and bills for December of $791,331.

In public comments, there were a handful of requests for the return of Zoom access.

Citizen Wendy Manley, also in favor of the resumption of Zoom, spoke at length about Short Term Rental licenses and how there are many applications submitted. There are about 290 according to township secretary Crystal Butler, with most of them submitted with significant deficiencies. Supervisor Brandon Carroll expanded on this, explaining that a lot of information that’s supposed to be provided with the applications is missing when submitted. There was a backand-forth about required insurance.

Township solicitor Harry Coleman pointed out that there is litigation regarding the ordinance.