Directly after the annual reorganizational meeting of Sadsbury Township Supervisors, the regular monthly meeting unfolded.

The developer for the Lake View Terrace project in Conneaut Lake, Jeff Davenport, and Engineer, Ashley Porter, were in attendance to ask for preliminary approval.

Lake View Terrace will encompass approximately 7 acres and will include apartments, a retail center, which will house a pharmacy, and a two-story office region. It will be located near the intersection of Routes 322 and 18 just east of Conneaut Lake.

Several days prior to this meeting, a hearing had been held for the preliminary plan at which time, Davenport and Porter were told that three things needed to be clarified in full. The conditions were to be placed in a letter, on behalf of supervisors, so that the appropriate people involved with the project would have it in writing.

The three conditions were: rules of the development, property maintenance and evidence that it would be a taxable property.

These would be in addition to the items that are spelled out in the zoning ordinance for the plan to reach a final approval phase. Porter said that between now and the final, “we'll envelope those all into the final submittal.” He continued by saying that they would be attending future meetings in order to update the board and to take all legal steps pertaining to the project.

Davenport mentioned working closely with the supervisors in terms of the water system, which will be supplied by Aqua PA.

Porter explained that in the very beginning, they were told there would not be an issue with hooking on to an existing line. Then, in another letter, Aqua said that they had no service along the frontage. Porter went on to say that Aqua said they'd be more than happy to serve them “if you bear the cost of the extension...to your site.”

He said the issue was that they had planned to connect across the road if need be but now, Aqua indicated that they did not have the frontage service needed. In past meetings, they had asked supervisors to perhaps meet with Aqua as well, and they had agreed to do so.

Township Supervisor Roy Whaley said, “At the appropriate time, whenever you guys are ready, I would suggest you do your due diligence with Aqua but, we would like to help you at the meeting.”

The bottom line of that was that there seemed to be a lack of communication between the local Aqua people and their higher ups in Philadelphia.

Back to the preliminary approval, Supervisor Kevin VanHonk made a motion to approve this phase, subject to the conditions mentioned above concerning the three items to be placed on the list. The motion was seconded and then Whaley said a few words about the taxable issue during the “further discussion” segment of the process.

He said times are changing and many cities and states are becoming creative when it comes to tax breaks, brackets and the like. Therefore, he indicated that nailing down the taxable portion of the condition was within reason for this particular project.

A local resident, Tim Weber, also had some questions and comments prior to the motion being carried.

He began by apologizing for not being at previous meetings due to circumstances he couldn't control and then asked a few questions for clarification.

He asked that Davenport and Porter thank the folks at Wesbury for considering this area since, in his opinion, it would not only spruce up the site, which he described as being “unsightly for many years,” but would bring jobs to the area as well.

Weber then asked if the project would pay property taxes like a for-profit business, for example. He said that some of his friends had asked and he wanted to be able to give them the correct information. Whaley said indeed it would be and it is a strong concern of the supervisors.

He asked about the fill in the area because some had been added through the years. He inquired about the foundation stabilizatio, etc.

Porter answered that they had done a thorough geotechnical investigation of the site and the areas were well defined in terms of the fill, which was located in the northeast corner where the office building portion will be.

Porter concluded by saying that the area would actually have more excavation than fill when all was said and done.

When asked about a time frame in terms of the construction, Davenport said that the fall would be more than likely when the foundations would be placed.

He continued by saying that it is a phase project but is continuous in nature. The apartments are slated to be first on the list, then the office area and then the retail section.

Porter then caught Weber up on the paper-work or legal end of things by telling him the phases that have unfolded thus far.

After the discussion, the motion was carried and a roll-call vote taken. All supervisors voted yes.