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Upper Makefield Townsihp

BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

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2001 Annual Report

November 6, 2001

The Environmental Advisory Council of UMT has had a very successful and productive year. The Council is composed of very talented and dedicated individuals who make valuable contributions to the Township and its welfare. This year the Council has seen one of its long-time and most dedicated volunteers retire from its ranks, its leadership change, and the addition of a new member. John Welsh, a 21 + year veteran of UMT government, retired from the Council and the Park and Recreation Board. John’s valued voice and sage counsel on the Park and Recreation Board and the EAC has been replaced by the considered opinions of Tom Cino. Stan Arabis, possibly the greatest contributor to the EAC and its mission over its five year history has stepped down as Chair but continues to serve is an active member of our group and the Planning Commission. We also welcomed Neil Lovekin, the Township’s Assist Code Enforcement Officer, as our technical and data liaison with the Township and Heritage Conservancy. Over the past several months, Neil has become invaluable to the EAC and its programs.

Our original budget for the year has been increased to a total of $40,000.00. Of that we expect to spend approximately $14,000.00 on appraisals for acquisitions under the Open Space program. The balance of our allotted funding will be spent primarily on consulting and legal services provided by Heritage Conservancy. In addition, specific funding requests for legal services related to the EAC effort to institute an Installment Purchase Agreement mechanism ($3,000.00) for the Open Space program and the overflight of the Township’s streams to assess the condition of their riparian buffers ($3,737.00) have also been funded by the Township at the EAC’s request.

In addition to the EAC performing its normal duties providing technical assistance to the Board of Supervisors, I’d like to report on eight areas of our accomplishments for this calendar year. They are: Programs started, Ordinances drafted, Grants applied for and funded, Studies commissioned, the Open Space program, Relationships started with allied groups, Presentations given, and Awards received.

Programs Started

This year the EAC initiated a comprehensive riparian buffer program for the Township. Three elements of this program began this year. They are:

1. Evaluation of the condition of the buffer along the Towship’s streams. With funding approved by the BoS, the EAC commissioned an overflight of all UMT streams by the Heritage Conservancy in concert with NOAA’s own waterway evaluation program
2. Drafting of a riparian buffer ordinance to protect the existing stream buffers.
3. The implementation of an aggressive buffer restoration program using Growing Greener Grant moneys from the PADEP.

Ordinances Drafted

1. Canal Overlay Ordinance to protect this waterway and the properties along it from development encroachment.
2. Riparian Buffer Ordinance designed to protect the existing stream buffers of the Township from degradation by use of development.
3. Many thanks are owed to Tim Duffy of the EAC for his drafting work on these ordinances.

Grants Applied for and Funded

The EAC applied and received $5,000. of funding for the restoration of the riparian buffer along Jericho Creek on the Meister property off Pineville and Thompson Mill Roads. The grant was obtained through the Growing Greener Grant program of the PADEP. Our grant application involved the students for Council Rock as an educational work program.

The EAC plans to apply for 6 to 8 more such grants in 2002 for specifically targeted segments of streams in the township based upon the Heritage Conservancy evaluation work.

Studies Commissioned

The EAC commissioned the stream overflight and aerial photo evaluation and mapping of all streambeds in the Township. This information will be key to our riparian buffer program as well as any stormwater management ordinances considered in the future.

We also have directed and completed certain Open Space evaluations related to the land assets found in the Township. This information plays a center role in the EAC’s decision-making with respect to the properties evaluated under the Plan to Preserve UMT’s Farmland and Open Space.

Open Space Program

Many new developments in this program have followed the successful campaign last fall in which the Township’s residents passed the largest single municipal bond issue dedicated to the preservation of farmland and open space. The success of this 15 million dollar referendum and UMT’s Open Space program has brought notoriety to UMT and congratulations from many groups throughout the state and this region.

I’d like to share a few of the particulars of this year phase of UMT/EAC’s on-going preservation effort.

1. We developed and installed a comprehensive property tracking database for some 92 properties with significant preservation potential.
2. We assigned specific prospect properties to individual EAC members as liaison to the program for these landowners.
3. We held a well-received landowner workshop in the spring to transmit our message to these landowners. Its success has prompted us to schedule another for March of 2002.
4. We targeted 22 high potential properties.
5. We have reached agreed upon easement contract language with 7 of these landowners.
6. We have offered or are investigating the possibility of offering to purchase 2 properties under this program.
7. We have offered to purchase conservation easements on 6 of these properties.
8. We have requested funding for and issued letter commitments to 8 landowners for either fee simple purchase or conservation easement purchase in a total amount exceeding 11 million dollars.
9. We have two more properties in the final phases of this process.
10. When these last two offers are completed we will have extended offers in an amount exceeding 13.5 million dollars to preserve more than 800 acres of UMT’s farmlands and open space.
11. The EAC initiated efforts to develop and implement the first municipal Installment Purchase Agreement (IPA) program in the Commonwealth for landowners who would like to receive payment for the easement on their property over time.
12. We also have worked with the Buck County Agriculture Board in an effort to obtain contributing funding for these purchases with success. The Ag. Board has offered more than 4 million dollars for the preservation of properties in UMT this year.
13. We are presently working with a UMT landowner to preserve a significant property through a fee simple purchase using county funding with matching UMT money under the Natural Areas Inventory program.
14. We are also working with two landowners who wish to donate a conservation easement on their property.

Relationships Started with Allied Groups

1. Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Association – a well developed watershed association based in Hopewell, NJ and dedicated to preserving water resources throughout the Princeton-Hopewell area
2. Solebury EAC and LPC – Our relationship includes shared cost in developing the documents necessary to implement an IPA program for the Township.
3. Land Trust Alliance – we participated in the national land preservation organization’s Mid-Atlantic Conference in Harrisburg last May.
4. Friends of the Delaware Canal – in June, we participated in a program on how to maintain and improve the canal discussing our proposed overlay district.

Presentations Given

I and Debra Wolf-Goldstein of Heritage Conservancy gave a “how to” presentation to those in attendance at the May Land Trust Alliance Conference regarding UMT’s 2000 Open Space referendum campaign.

Awards Received

The EAC and the Township were the recipients of Heritage Conservancy’s 2001 Partnership Award in September.

In December the EAC is to receive the Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence in Harrisburg.

It has been a very busy and productive year. I’d like to thank the Board of Supervisors for their support, Rich Gestrich for his vigilance and assistance throughout the year and particularly for his work on the application for the Governor’s award, Heritage Conservancy, Jeff Marshall, Russ Johnson, Mike Frank, Debra Wolf-Goldstein, Steve Harris, Neil Lovekin, and especially the hard working volunteers of the EAC, Barbara Hirst, Phil Sandine, Bud Baldwin, Stan Arabis, Tom Cino, Tim Duffy, and John Welsh.

Respectfully submitted,
Robert A. West
Chairman, UMT EAC