Things May Get Very Corny in Douglass Township

Photos by Evan Brandt

Jeff Peiffer holds a flyer from one of his previous corn mazes with an Eagles theme. Peiffer and his family are hoping the township supervisors will support their application to open a new corn maze on the 70-acre Schlegel Farm on Schlegel Road. Supervisors expressed concern about too much traffic on the little used dirt road.

Jeff Peiffer and his daughter Rachel Trettin hoped the Douglass (Mont.) Township Supervisors would lend an ear to their proposal to establish a corn maze on the Schlegel Farm, but instead the supervisors may have detected the kernel of a problem.

The two were before the supervisors making their pitch for township support for their zoning application later this month. Peiffer is under contract to buy 70 acres of the 100-acre farm, which is permanently preserved farmland under a conservation easement.

The easement allows for agriculturally-related business enterprises such as the corn maze and pumpkin patch, but the zoning board permission is required, explained Peiffer's attorney, Ken Picardi.

Peiffer and family have experience, having operated them on Township Line Road outside Royersford and on Spiece Road, near Cedarvill Road, in East Coventry.

Peiffer and his daughter emphasized that the maze is family friendly, that all those under 16 must be

Rachel Trettin shows the flag that gets waved
when corn maze visitors want to be led out.

accompanied by an adult.

Trettin said the point of the family's corn mazes is to find 16 game pieces hidden in the maze.

She said each group carries a flag that is waved if anyone wants to be led out of the maze. They are spotted by a worker on a tower named "Pop," last name Corn.

The "corn cops," led by a Kernel, escort anyone who wants to leave out of the maze.

Resident Karen Lewandowski said she supports such activities as a way to keep farms financially viable, rather than the land going to a developer.

But while Peiffer mollified such likely concerns as keeping lights and sound low, that parking would be adequate and safely arranged, and that the mazes are not scary, there was one item which the supervisors weren't sure they could shuck. (sorry, couldn't resist).

To minimize impact on Schlegel Road, which is dirt and stone and often washes out in the rain, the family proposes bringing traffic in off Oberholtzer Rooad, so they are only on Schlegel Road for about four-tenths of a mile, said Trettin.

Using an Oberholtzer Road address on the website will mean 90 percent of those who come will use a GPS system and come in the right way said Peiffer.

The maze will also not be open in the rain, Peiffer said.

But the supervisors remained unconvinced given, as Chairman Alan Keiser noted, the plans Peiffer outlined could mean a total of 4,000 cars, plus buses, on Schlegel Road in a single season.

They will consider the matter as they have one more meeting before the zoning board meets. They can support the application, oppose it, or remain neutral as the decision is ultimately up to the independent zoning board.

Changes to Age-Restricted Zoning Approved

In other matters, the Board of Supervisors conducted a public hearing on a zoning change for the overlay district that permits age-restricted housing.

As The Mercury reported in print Monday morning, Township Manager Peter Hiryak said 50 acres of the proposed project is in Douglass Township and 20 acres in Colebrookdale Township.

Hiryak said the proposal is at 650 Englesville Road, near the intersection of Mill Street and Sweinhart Road which runs parallel to Route 100 near the Berks County line.

The ordinance requirements are a minimum residential use of 65 percent, non-residential minimum use of 15 percent with 20 percent open space.

One woman from the audience commented that the amenities the change will allow, a clubhouse with gym, a pool and other amenities, "sound like a country club. I see it happening all over, new developments are for wealthy and well-to-do, older residents who have lived here all their lives cannot afford places like this."

After the hearing, the supervisors voted unanimously to adopt the changes.

'Zern Tract' Building Schedule

The other significant matter undertaken Monday night was the adoption of a building schedule for the "Zern tract," the 236-acre townhouse project that has been in the works for years and was approved March 4.

Supervisor Josh Stouch reminded residents that the Zern Tract and Zern's are too very different

things.

The famed-but-now-defunct Zern's Market is not being redeveloped as a townhouse development, they are being built on the 285 acres behind the market.

Under the resolution the supervisors approved, would require phase one of 74 homes to begin by July 1; 80 more homes would have to be started by August of 2021; and the final 82 townhouses must begin construction by April, 2023.

Supervisor Anthony Kuklinski said the resolution is so the project does not drag on too long, and that the resolution contains "enforcement provisions" if the project lags or fails to meet those milestones.

And with that, here are the Tweets from the meeting.

Getting Really Corny Around Here

236 Townhome Project Nears Approval in Douglass

Photos by Evan Brandt

A copy of the final site plan for 236 townhouses the Douglass Township Supervisors will shortly vote on approving.

A long-discussed housing development located on 285 acres south of the former Zern's Market in Gilbertsville seems to be nearing the finish line.

Last night the township supervisors voted unanimously to authorize Township Solicitor Robert Brant to draw up a resolution giving final approval to the project.

Engineer Jason Smeland outlines the final plan for the Zern tract.

Known as “the Zern tract,” the Danny Jake Corp. has been proposing a development of one kind or another on the acreage between Jackson Road and Route 100 for six to eight years, said Township Manager Peter Hiryak.

It was more than a year ago that the supervisors granted the project preliminary site plan approval. At the time, it proposed 240 townhomes.

"It's been through some changes since then," said Jason Smeland, from the Chalfont firm of Lenape Valley Engineering, who presented the plan recommended by the township's planning agency to the supervisors Monday night.

Smeland said once final approval is received, construction could begin in the spring and will move forward in three phases, but may take several years to complete. "It depends on how well it sells," he said.

The project is a key part of a long-planned proposal to build another road in Douglass parallel to Route 100 and Jackson Road and this project will contribute $329,293.02 toward that project, as well as some land easements for the construction, Smeland said.

This map shows the Zern tract project on the top right and the 

much larger Gambone commercial project below it along 

Route 100. The "L" shaped road is the proposed Market Street.

That parallel road is called Market Street and will not be constructed until a much larger commercial development along Route 100 and owned by the Gambone development family comes to pass.

As proposed now, that project includes two four-story hotels of 100 rooms each; a 147,000 home improvement store, a 64,000 square-foot outpatient facility; another 100,000 square feet of retail and several smaller office buildings.

Hiryak, who said that project is "years away" from fruition, said the new Market Street will provide access to that project, as well as the Zern tract development, directly off Route 100.

He said in order to allow access to Route 100, complete with a traffic signal, PennDOT will require the Gambones to align Market Street with Bartman Avenue at the intersection with East Philadelphia Avenue, thus creating an  safer intersection and requiring the demolishing of Doc Watson's Irish Pub, which the Gambones own.

In a related note, Hiryak told the supervisors the owners of Long property along Jackson Road and Route 100 will speak to the township planning agency on Thursday, Feb. 14 at 6 p.m. about plans for preserving open space there. "It should be pretty interesting," he said.

Bridge Construction News

Construction on the Paper Mill Road bridge has been delayed by cold weather, Hiryak reporter to the supervisors Monday night.

Originally planned for completion on Jan. 15, Hiryak said it now looks like it may not be done until March or early April.

Now owned by the county, which is paying for the construction, when it is complete the township will take over ownership of that bridge.

The same is true for the Henry Road bridge, which is now in the design phase for repairs. Construction is expected to begin at the end of this year.

A map of the Congo Road bridge detour as outlined by PennDOT.

Next year, into 2021, PennDOT will replace the Congo Road bridge over Middle Creek, just north of Middle Creek Road, said Hiryak.

When that happens, that portion of the road will be closed and a 2.3-mile detour along Middle Creek Road, Sassamansville Road and Linsenbeidler Road will be instituted, Hiryak said.

When that project is completed, ownership of the bridge will transfer from the state to the township, said Hiryak.

Hiryak said since he has no exact dates, he does not know how that will line up with some other road closures due this year and next in New Hanover.

Last March, New Hanover reviewed preliminary plans to replace a bridge on Swamp Pike and another on North Charlotte Street in 2019 and 2020 that will have both roads closed for up to 12 weeks while they are replaced by construction crews.
The first closure will be on Swamp Pike, where Montgomery County plans to replace a bridge over a small stream that’s located between New Hanover Square Road and Wagner Road

The second bridge project on the docket take North Charlotte Street, or Route 663 if you prefer, over a tributary on Minister Creek just north of the intersection with Swamp Pike.

A moment of silence was observed at the start

of Monday night's Douglass Supervisors meeting

to mark the passing of former supervisor Tim Turner.

The supervisors began last night's meeting by marking the passing of former Township Supervisor Timothy Turner and observing a moment of silence in his memory.

And with that, here are the Tweets, what few there were, from the meeting.

A Long Time Coming

New (Former) Supervisor, New Trash Hauler, and Congratulations Chief Templin on 25 Years Service

Photos by Evan Brandt

Douglass Police Chief Barry Templin, right, is congratulated

on 25 years of service to the township by Supervisors

Chairman Anthony Kuklinski

As you have no doubt already read in your print edition of The Mercury, former Douglass supervisor John Stasik Jr. was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Fred Ziegler's resignation last month.

I'll trust you to find that news in the newspaper (although a video of the vote can be found admid the Tweets below).

But that was not the only thing that happened last night.

Police Corporal Brian Steffie was promoted to the rank of sergeant and Chief Barry Templin was recognized for 25 years of service to the department.

A local boy who graduated from Boyertown Area Senior High School, Templin was congratulated by the entire department and his extended family, as well as the Board of Supervisors.

He said the people he works with "make my job really easy, although I suppose I shouldn't tell you that."

He added that the officers in the department are "the ones who go out and bust their buns every day" and make him look good.

Although they all looked pretty good in this rare photo of the all of Douglass's uniformed personnel:

Douglass (Mont.) township's uniformed personnel.

The other significant development last night was the awarding of a three-year trash collection contract to Keystone Disposal.

The low bidder among five -- which included Advanced Disposal, which had the most recent contract, A.J. Blozenski, J.P. Mascaro and Son and Waste Management -- the cost to the township per year is $278,333.33 for the service.

The three-year total is $835,000, $72,535 less than the next lowest bid of "907,535 from Advanced.

Advanced won the contract for disposal of the township's trash at its Western Berks Landfill with a low bid of $58.65 per ton.

Township Manager Peter Hiryak said the bids were about $30,000 lower than the last rounds of bids, which the township rejected in November.

He said the November bids were higher because "we made it too complicated." Simplifying the bids brought the price down, he said.

Douglass (Mont.) will continue to use the pay-per-bag system, in which users buy their trash bags from the township as their only disposal cost, ensuring they only pay for what they use.

The township will continue to operate its recycling and composting facility. The only change as a result of the new trash hauler, said recycling coordinator Andrew Duncan, is that recycling will be collected once a week, instead of once every two weeks as occurs now.

"I expect that will increase our recycling and reduce our trash tonnage," Duncan told the supervisors in recommending the Keystone bid, which they adopted unanimously.

We'll have a little more on that in an upcoming article in The Mercury.

In the meantime, here are the Tweets and video from last night: