Supervisors grill contractor's engineer

Office or storage yard — what will it become? MILFORD — S&S Contracting is planning to build a 9,600 square foot construction office with 24 parking spaces near the intersection of Raymondskill Road and US Route 6. Following up an appearance earlier this month, Brian Swanson of Pennoni Engineering presented project updates to the Milford Township Supervisors Monday night. Swanson explained that Pennoni determined that 24 parking spaces would be enough for the anticipated number of employees and visitors. Swanson said they allocated about 400 square feet of office space per parking space and also told the supervisors an additional 56 parking spaces could be easily added if necessary. “We have the Penn DOT highway occupancy permit (HOP, which allows a driveway cut to the state road) and are running on an extension,” Swanson said. The application for the permit is not incomplete, but S&S has not complied with all PennDOT requests. The agency issues a permit and allows time for an applicant to complete all their requests, said Swanson. “This permit is two years old. Is it still valid?” asked Supervisor Gary Williams. Swanson said it is. Supervisor Chair Don Quick was concerned about the township’s ability to prevent S&S from storing equipment and other construction materials all over the lot. Township Zoning Officer Bob DiLorenzo said that storage of equipment and other material would require another permit. Quick asked what type of usage of the property S&S owner Billy Shi had in mind. Swanson apparently did not give Quick the answer he wanted to hear, prompting the chairman to say, “It appears this permit is an extension and if you think we can’t stop the project because you have no HOP, try me.” Swanson said there would not be fuel storage on the site, but added that “Potentially every vehicle is a storage facility.” Questions concerning the septic system, came up. Swanson said the original project planning documents had a typo that listed the septic system capacity as 400 gallons per day. He said this should have read 200 gallons per day. Quick asked about showers or kitchen facilities in the structure, and DiLorenzo said the 200-gallon-per-day system would accommodate only 20 employees. Swanson defended his company’s testing. “We did extensive testing for the septic system to be sure we had it right,” he said. Williams said the supervisors were being asked to approve a project that is already in use without approvals. Swanson said he saw no reason why Shi would not allow the township zoning officers or other town officials to have access the site to make sure no outside storage is taking place. Township Solicitor Douglas Jacobs noted that access was provided for in the township’s project application. “We want to be able to enter the property when necessary, redefine exactly what equipment is allowed to be stored, and we don’t want him to store his extensive amount of construction equipment on the property,” Quick said. The supervisors said the lack of the completed highway access permit as well as a permit from the Pike County Conservation District remain as concerns. The board tabled the permit until the Nov. 2, as Quick said he needed time to write up the permit conditions that would apply. In other business Township Secretary Viola Canouse recommended to the supervisors a switch from Verizon telephone service to telephone service provided by Blue Ridge Communications. “We are currently paying Verizon on average $179 per month for Internet and telephone service, and by taking a two-year contract with Blue Ridge at $129 per month we’ll save approximately $546 per year,” Canouse said. “Everything we can save helps/ Quick made the motion for the switch, which was approved.