| Forks Action Committee |
| Homepage - Last Day of the Month |
|
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| March 31, 2005 |
C. David Howell sent us this TRAFFIC ALERT email:
- Since I am active with an ad hoc citizens group dealing with traffic and safety matters in the Forks-
Easton area, I think it appropriate for me to share information gathered from my meetings with area
civic leaders. In this regard, I would like to advise F.A.C. of some upcoming roadwork that will
impact Forks residents and I hope you will post it to your website to assure a wide public
awareness.
The College Hill road work will be much more extensive than the Express Times reported in their
March 4, 2005 article. Reportedly the road resurfacing will run all the way from the bottom of
College Hill at North Third Street through Forks Township to Stockertown. Easton must begin
preparing for the road work on College Avenue, Cattell Street and Knox Avenue immediately in
order to remain on schedule for the start of PennDot's work after July 1, 2005. Easton's preparatory
work will involve roadway storm drains, sewer lines, manhole covers, reset of fire hydrants and
electrical conduit to name a few of the forty or so projects. The intersection at McCartney and Knox
will be redesigned to improve traffic site lines for turns and rain run off. The double stop sign on
McCartney northbound will be replaced by a single one.
Although all dates for work have not been officially set by Easton you should expect to see crews
on the roadways soon.I have learned that Easton work crews may be out on March 29th to begin
work on College Avenue from North Third St. to McCartney St. The next segment from McCartney
to Clinton Terrace will start on or about April 5th. All projects on College Hill are hoped to be
completed by June 1, 2005 prior to PennDot's involvement.
Of course, alternate routes to Rt. 22 East and West will soon become an important topic of
conversation among residents as well as Township plans to prepare Sullivan Trail for PennDot. I
will plan to pass on updates as information becomes available.
Best Regards,
David
At its meeting on March 17, 2005 the Board of Supervisors, in addtion to regular business, considered two controversial
items. The first was a presentation at 7:00 PM of the Strausser Enterprises plan for 25 acres in the CR district near the golf
course. The 7 PM session was supposed to show the developer's plan for a private recreation center for Riverview Estates
residents. At least that's what was advertised in the Express Times. NOT. Instead, the packed house was shown a 30 minute
slide show of what "new urbanism" could look like in Forks. Briefly, Strausser's people described the plot as village square
oriented with Winchester Drive on one side of the football field sized square and Ramblewood intersecting with Winchester in
a tee on the north side and again in a tee on the south side of the square. Three of the four quadrants that would be formed
would house commercial space on their first levels and living spaces (condos now - the Planning Commission saw
apartments) on the upper levels. Some of these buildings could be three (they prefer four) stories high. The fourth quadrant
would house senior apartments... 120 of them. There would also be 29 townhomes and 17 "village" homes. The Board was
reminded on more than one occasion during the presentation that if they didn't like this, then Strausser would put up "cookie
cutter" houses. A veiled threat? We were also told by one of the representatives that only negative people ("complainers")
come to meetings. Interesting technique considering that notices were sent to 30+/- nearby residents announcing the
Conditional Use Hearing. Forks was referred to a number of times as suburbia. We weren't aware that that was what our little
corner of heaven had become and were left wondering which urban municipality Forks was a suburb of... Easton? Or perhaps
the entire state of New Jersey?
The other controversial item of the evening was the plight of Forks residents living near an abandoned rail line that Palmer
Township wants to take over for their bikepath. Yes, Palmer wants Forks land. And, yes, the residents have hired an attorney
to help them fight this. He, on behalf of the residents, asked the Board to "do nothing." He said that his clients have filed suit
against Palmer Township and if the Board gets involved they will be subject to the suit also. The Board, to their credit, did
NOTHING. Kudos.
Please see our blog for more meeting details! Don't forget to read some of the other posts there... and the Comments too.
Don't be afraid to join in the discussion(s) and add your own Comments.
items. The first was a presentation at 7:00 PM of the Strausser Enterprises plan for 25 acres in the CR district near the golf
course. The 7 PM session was supposed to show the developer's plan for a private recreation center for Riverview Estates
residents. At least that's what was advertised in the Express Times. NOT. Instead, the packed house was shown a 30 minute
slide show of what "new urbanism" could look like in Forks. Briefly, Strausser's people described the plot as village square
oriented with Winchester Drive on one side of the football field sized square and Ramblewood intersecting with Winchester in
a tee on the north side and again in a tee on the south side of the square. Three of the four quadrants that would be formed
would house commercial space on their first levels and living spaces (condos now - the Planning Commission saw
apartments) on the upper levels. Some of these buildings could be three (they prefer four) stories high. The fourth quadrant
would house senior apartments... 120 of them. There would also be 29 townhomes and 17 "village" homes. The Board was
reminded on more than one occasion during the presentation that if they didn't like this, then Strausser would put up "cookie
cutter" houses. A veiled threat? We were also told by one of the representatives that only negative people ("complainers")
come to meetings. Interesting technique considering that notices were sent to 30+/- nearby residents announcing the
Conditional Use Hearing. Forks was referred to a number of times as suburbia. We weren't aware that that was what our little
corner of heaven had become and were left wondering which urban municipality Forks was a suburb of... Easton? Or perhaps
the entire state of New Jersey?
The other controversial item of the evening was the plight of Forks residents living near an abandoned rail line that Palmer
Township wants to take over for their bikepath. Yes, Palmer wants Forks land. And, yes, the residents have hired an attorney
to help them fight this. He, on behalf of the residents, asked the Board to "do nothing." He said that his clients have filed suit
against Palmer Township and if the Board gets involved they will be subject to the suit also. The Board, to their credit, did
NOTHING. Kudos.
Please see our blog for more meeting details! Don't forget to read some of the other posts there... and the Comments too.
Don't be afraid to join in the discussion(s) and add your own Comments.
Sinkholes are everywhere! Professor Mary Roth's presentation at our March 9th F.A.C. meeting was informative and
entertaining. She is a wonderful speaker so if you have another opportunity to hear her, please don't miss it. We thank her for
taking the time to share some of her knowledge with us. She told us that our area is part of a much larger band containing
irregular bedrock with karst conditions... this means bedrock that dissolves. When it dissolves, it creates voids. The large
fractures create caves. Unfortunately for us, limestone dissolves more quickly than dolomite. We have limestone.
She said that the traditional method (borings) of testing for sinkholes is useless. The use of air photos (both old and new) is a
better method of spotting them. She is working on a method of locating sinkholes using electric current... to study soil and
rock below the surface. Of course, the best approach is to locate sinkholes before they form. She also detailed what she
considered to be the best way of plugging them, with cabbage sized rocks on the bottom, gravel above that, geotextile next,
then sand, and lastly soil. This is good to know! Thank you again Dr. Roth.
entertaining. She is a wonderful speaker so if you have another opportunity to hear her, please don't miss it. We thank her for
taking the time to share some of her knowledge with us. She told us that our area is part of a much larger band containing
irregular bedrock with karst conditions... this means bedrock that dissolves. When it dissolves, it creates voids. The large
fractures create caves. Unfortunately for us, limestone dissolves more quickly than dolomite. We have limestone.
She said that the traditional method (borings) of testing for sinkholes is useless. The use of air photos (both old and new) is a
better method of spotting them. She is working on a method of locating sinkholes using electric current... to study soil and
rock below the surface. Of course, the best approach is to locate sinkholes before they form. She also detailed what she
considered to be the best way of plugging them, with cabbage sized rocks on the bottom, gravel above that, geotextile next,
then sand, and lastly soil. This is good to know! Thank you again Dr. Roth.
The March 3, 2005 Board of Supervisors meeting was another well attended one, not S.R.O. like last month and there were
more residents than developers occupying the chairs. Kudos to all the Forks residents who ventured out on meeting night!
They were not disappointed. They may have been treated to a first! The Board's first official move of the night after the Pledge
of Allegiance was to break for an Executive Session! They discussed a personnel matter for ten minutes and then emerged
from the back room and continued the regular meeting. On the night's printed agenda was a new item (above the line), Total
Debt. A resident requested that this be on there and it was. WE owe $9,445,822... just in case you were wondering.
Two major agenda items were discussed. The first was Sterling Hill Estates, a 135 lot project on 68 acres south of Arndt
Road at Mitman Road. The developer, Jim Seitz, wants to pay ALL the recreation fees ($1,000 per lot) and not include any open
space or park area for children to play. The Board has asked him to revisit this decision (among other things.) The other
controversial agenda item was a request by a developer's representative (the project is in Palmer Township) to lower the
speed limit on Bushkill Drive in order to get the new Newlins Road bridge over Bushkill Creek opened for use. There is a sight
distance problem there and a Forks resident has been asked (and he refused) to cut down his large pine trees. The trees are
not on the State right-of-way and the homeowner cannot be forced to cut them. It is a stand off. The Board declined to request
that PennDot lower the speed limit from 45 to 35. The developer must return to PennDot to get this worked out.
Condemnation was mentioned. Stay tuned.
Also on the night's agenda was the appointment of Forks' first K-9 officer. Officer William Mills got the nod. He was one of
three finalists. Congratulations! The next step... the dog! And, there was a second Executive Session at the end of the
meeting. The results of that were votes to NOT turn our EIT and EMST over to Berkheimer Associates but instead to bring Mary
Ann Kessler back (to her former position) and to hire a temporary part-time assistant for her (until tax season is over).
See our blog for more meeting details! Don't forget to read some of the other posts there... and the Comments too. Don't be
afraid to join in the discussion(s) and add your own Comments.
more residents than developers occupying the chairs. Kudos to all the Forks residents who ventured out on meeting night!
They were not disappointed. They may have been treated to a first! The Board's first official move of the night after the Pledge
of Allegiance was to break for an Executive Session! They discussed a personnel matter for ten minutes and then emerged
from the back room and continued the regular meeting. On the night's printed agenda was a new item (above the line), Total
Debt. A resident requested that this be on there and it was. WE owe $9,445,822... just in case you were wondering.
Two major agenda items were discussed. The first was Sterling Hill Estates, a 135 lot project on 68 acres south of Arndt
Road at Mitman Road. The developer, Jim Seitz, wants to pay ALL the recreation fees ($1,000 per lot) and not include any open
space or park area for children to play. The Board has asked him to revisit this decision (among other things.) The other
controversial agenda item was a request by a developer's representative (the project is in Palmer Township) to lower the
speed limit on Bushkill Drive in order to get the new Newlins Road bridge over Bushkill Creek opened for use. There is a sight
distance problem there and a Forks resident has been asked (and he refused) to cut down his large pine trees. The trees are
not on the State right-of-way and the homeowner cannot be forced to cut them. It is a stand off. The Board declined to request
that PennDot lower the speed limit from 45 to 35. The developer must return to PennDot to get this worked out.
Condemnation was mentioned. Stay tuned.
Also on the night's agenda was the appointment of Forks' first K-9 officer. Officer William Mills got the nod. He was one of
three finalists. Congratulations! The next step... the dog! And, there was a second Executive Session at the end of the
meeting. The results of that were votes to NOT turn our EIT and EMST over to Berkheimer Associates but instead to bring Mary
Ann Kessler back (to her former position) and to hire a temporary part-time assistant for her (until tax season is over).
See our blog for more meeting details! Don't forget to read some of the other posts there... and the Comments too. Don't be
afraid to join in the discussion(s) and add your own Comments.
In case any of you wonder how our website and blog are doing lately, here are some graphs to view. Double click on the
images below for larger views. We are excited at the traffic we are getting. Thank you all! Tell your friends!
images below for larger views. We are excited at the traffic we are getting. Thank you all! Tell your friends!
| ||||||||||||
| Forks Action Committee |
