CONNEAUT LAKE - The Community Pride Committee in Conneaut Lake will participate in Make a Difference Day on May 2. Borough Councilman John Chuey explained that registration will take place between 1 and 1:30 and the sprucing up will go on until 4. The downtown region as well as the beach are on the list of things to do that day.

Chuey also announced that on May 18 and 19 flowers will be planted in the various wooden boxes scattered about town. He stressed that volunteers and financial aid are need for this project. Any interested party should contact Grace at Ardis Dress and Beauty at 814-382-2324.

He also made mention of the many volunteers who helped out during the Christmas decorating and light up ceremony in town. 130 kids came out to see Santa, three boxes of food were collected and over $50 was raised.

In other business during the March meeting of Borough Council, some discussion took place about the new zoning ordinance that has been in the works for some time. A Borough Planning Commission meeting was held in February and was open to the public but no citizens were in attendance. That meeting was covered by this publication.

Borough Secretary Linda Joyce imparted to Council that Heather Euard, employee of the Crawford County Planning Office, had written 48 pages of notes about the proposed zoning ordinance. Joyce said that Euard indicated a lot of areas that were not to her liking or to the liking of the Commission in general. She didn't go over the details during the Council meeting.

Joyce said that there was a meeting to discuss some of the issues but Euard was not in attendance. There is a regular planning commission meeting on March 16, at the Borough office at 7 PM and the ordinance should be a major topic. Joyce indicated that she thought some citizens might attend that meeting.

Borough Council President Richard Holabaugh expressed a concern of his about the ordinance in terms of mobile homes. There were some stipulations in the old ordinance about the way a home is to face and the design in general.

Holabaugh also mentioned that there could be an issue with fences in terms of the wording of the new ordinance. He said his conclusion was that any fence, be it for a garden or for decorative reason, could require a permit. He did not agree with that and would like it to be clarified in the final ordinance.

Back to the trailers, Holabaugh did say that he thinks it would be fine for one to be used for a temporary area if, for example, a homeowner was remodeling etc. Also, if a resident had visiting relatives who had a motor home, for example, Holabaugh said that should be permitted as well.

The bottom line is there are some kinks that need to be worked out and fully explained before any official action will be taken on this new zoning ordinance.

The Borough is planning to have a dock placed in the area of First Street at some point and received from DEP a Water Obstruction & Encroachment Permit for that purpose.

They required a signature and Holabaugh said he wasn't too comfortable doing that at this time because he was concerned about having to stick to a time frame. In other words, he wondered if signing it would mean they had to act right away in getting the dock.

Borough Solicitor Jeff Millin said he went over the document and thought it would be OK to go ahead and sign it. He said the reason was that it was their way of keeping the ball rolling with the whole deal.

Joyce and former Borough Secretary Betty Sherman attended a DCED Grant Workshop in order to gather information on how to obtain a grant for the playground region of the beach.

Joyce said that after three hours, she still basically had no clue how to go about it as it was exceptionally confusing. The whole application process would involve many things including having an engineer compose a site drawing, etc. Also, it was her understanding that only 20% of the money would be funded in the end.

There was no official action taken on this issue during the meeting.

Speaking of the playground and beach area, Holabaugh said that soon he and Mark “Smitty” Smith, the Streets Man, would need to go to that region and determine the safety of the area and the equipment. He said any other interested member of Council could certainly come along and wanted to make sure they had either repaired or done away with any faulty equipment prior to opening for the season.

The Beach Committee is also going to explore the rules and regulations pertaining to the beach at their upcoming meeting.

A replacement dock is needed for the north side of the boat launch area. A quote was received in the amount of $4,562.11 for 4 assembled sections of 72 X 10 floating docks. The beach committee is to get together and discuss this further. Chuey said it was his impression that they did not have the money in the budget. They are going to study this further. They will also look into more lighting for the beach area and a discussion took place concerning this.

They talked about the various kinds of lighting and perhaps using an old streetlight. Chuey said both the dock and the lights are really needed and they are going to work on it as much as possible with the money allocated.

The flood plain maps were a topic of conversation as well because they need Engineer Ashley Porter to determine whether or not the new maps are accurate. They will request a letter in writing from him about his findings.

Porter's name came up again later in the meeting as he has been quite outspoken about Act 167, which has to do with cracking down on storm water management.

The DEP is going to be enforcing the storm water ordinance and many municipalities are concerned about what impact it might have on everyone from local contractors to private homeowners.

The ordinance would require much more concerning managing storm water including going through more steps for building permits, etc. Engineers would have to get involved for anything over 1,000 square feet. Also it will pertain to driveways and other structures on properties.

Joyce had on hand a letter that Porter had sent to the County Commissioners. The same letter had been brought up at a recent Summit Supervisor’s meeting.

In it Porter said that he was writing as the appointed engineering consultant for several municipalities. He expressed concern that the model ordinance would have a significant impact on development throughout the county. He mentioned the impact it would have on small single family, residential and agricultural areas and said those would be subject to more burdens and regulations. Porter also hit on the enforcement and administrative end of things and indicated those two aspects might be somewhat difficult for the local municipalities to handle.

Some quotes from the letter: “The accelerated planning process and completion deadline has significantly impacted the original project intent and does not allow adequate municipal review and input. The model ordinance is relatively complex and confusing, especially as it applies to small family, residential and agricultural buildings and additions. The model ordinance unduly regulates residential and agricultural buildings and additions.”

Joyce concluded by reading the rest of the letter which basically stated that Porter would provide comments concerning technical issues via separate letter during the week of March 1.

There was a brief discussion mainly about how most municipalities in the region are unhappy about the upcoming ordinance and enforcement by DEP.

Holabaugh asked what the next step would be and they are going to wait this out and see what takes place in the near future.

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