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Newtown Township

100 Municipal Drive, Newtown, PA 18940, Bucks County, PA

Date: 4/5/2024

To: Board of Supervisors

From: Micah Lewis, Township Manager

Re: Manager’s Report

Police Building Study

The Police Building Study is underway and expected to be finalized in the near future.

Police Contract Negotiations

The PBA has rejected the Townships Final Offer. The arbitration hearing is being rescheduled to a future

date.

NBCJMA - Infiltration & Inflow Reports

The NBCJMA has submitted the required Infiltration & Inflow report to BCWSA and DEP. This plan will

hopefully open the door for additional EDU’s for the Township. Remington Vernick is working with Carroll

Engineering and DEP to determine the next steps. The Township currently does not have any additional

sanitary sewer connections available.

Verizon Franchise Agreement

The Bucks County Consortium has reached out to Cohen & Associates to determine when the Verizon

Cable Franchise Agreement will need to be renegotiated. Please recall that Cohen & Associates

negotiated on behalf of the consortium for the current agreement and the cost was split up between the

members. Newtown Township’s current agreement expires on 1/5/2026. Northampton Township took the

lead in the negotiation of the current agreement, so Cohen & Associates will contact their manager and

provide a cost to the consortium members in the near future.

CRSD Second School Resource Officer

CRSD has requested the addition of a second School Resource Officer (SRO) to be stationed at

Newtown Middle School. They have added the funding to their preliminary budget. Should the second

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SRO be approved by the district, the agreement between the Township and district will need to be

amended to add the funding for the second officer.

Debt Service Loan - DVRPC LED Conversion Project and LED Building Lighting Project

We have begun starting the background work associated with acquiring the loan necessary to fund the

DVRPC LED Streetlight Conversion project, and the building LED Lighting upgrade project. We will be

recommending acquiring a loan for the actual cost of construction, excluding any rebates. The plan would

be to also include additional road paving in the loan documents. Debt Service is required to be used for

projects specifically outlined in the loan documents/ordinances, etc.

AV System Upgrade

In the near future we will begin the purchase of the equipment under CoStar vendors. The purchases will

be paid for from the American Rescue Fund.

Agenda Items

Swearing Ceremony

A ceremony will be held at the next Board of Supervisors meeting to swear in the newly hired Police

Officer, and Firefighters (5). The Firefighters will be sworn simultaneously.

Conditional Use Hearing

A hearing will be held for the conditional use application for the Daycare/Office uses for Durham

Investments LP. This is the project that is located adjacent to the Township Building.

Homewood Suites Escrow Release

Homewood Suites project has been completed and the remaining escrow is being released as an

administrative function to complete the project. CKS has reviewed the escrow release request and has

recommended that the project be closed. Remington Vernick is not responsible for this project.

Capital Purchase - Zero Turn Mowers

Please recall that we had allocated $32,000 under the capital plan for the purchase of two commercial

zero turn mowers. An item will be included on the upcoming agenda to purchase two mowers in the

amount of $23,682.66 through CoStars. The packet will include a summary of the purchase by the Public

Works Director. An item will be included on the upcoming Agenda for the Board’s consideration.

Law Enforcement Accreditation Services proposal

Chief Hearn has obtained a service agreement from Law Enforcement Accreditation Services to perform

ongoing reporting, etc. to maintain the department's accreditation status. The Sergeant who currently

handles the reporting is planning on retiring in the near future. The annual cost is approximately $12,000

annually. This cost will be offset by the unused Watchguard (in car cameras) warranties that we are no

longer using, as we have the body cameras in place (also approx. $12,000 annually). An item will be

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included on the upcoming agenda for the Boards consideration and associated documentation from the

Chief will be included in the packet for reference.