TOWNSHIP OF LOWER MERION

Ad Hoc Bryn Mawr Committee

Thursday, November 15, 2009, 5:00 – 6:30 PM

Township Administration Building

Caucus Room

Members in Attendance:

Commissioner Scott Zelov, Chair

Susan Arizini
Jerry Berenson
Vincent DiCioccio
Mike Weilbacher
Pat Wesley
Hank Wilson

Guests:
Rich Bickel, DVRPC
Barry Henry, Trammel Crow
Ryan Jeroski, GVF Transportation

Staff:
Angela Murray
Eric Persson

Meeting Notes

1. Report from the Chairman - Bryn Mawr Issues

Commissioner Zelov reported that the Board of Commissioners at their meeting the previous
night approved the Ludington Library construction contract. The project will include corrective
storm water repairs and is expected to take 14 months to complete. The Commissioner also noted
that the “Five Points” intersection reconstruction was also moving ahead and that the MJ Test
property Right of Way (“ROW”) was in the process of being acquired.

Barry Henry reported that the Pennsylvania Avenue Townhomes will begin construction in the
New Year. After Thanksgiving, work will begin on the intersection and include new sewer and
water lines, replacement of sidewalks and the installation of the rear alleyway that connects to
Pennsylvania Avenue. The Townhomes have advanced in design and Trammel Crow expects to
submit for final permits in the near future. Construction is expected to begin in April with the
construction of eight building units. Of the eight, two models are expected to be completed by
October. The construction will begin at Pennsylvania Avenue near Old Lancaster Road and
progress southbound toward Bryn Mawr Avenue. Eventually, there will be a sales office located
in the first model. Trammel Crow and the hospital representatives are studying comparable sales
prices now. There will be an off-site sales office prior to model completion although the site has
not as yet been selected.

The proposed Medical Office building that will be located on Old Lancaster Road has not
0progressed. The hospital and Trammel Crow are still working with a consortium of doctors with
the expectation of organizing an ownership group that can secure funding from a lender. Barry
expects that after the New Year he will be able to provide an update on the status of the building.
The established goal is to begin construction next spring.

Scott confirmed that there are continuing discussions between the Township and the hospital to
preserve the Gerhard building. Consideration has been given to introducing the planning concept
of “transfer of development rights” (“TDR”) that would enable such rights to be used at another
site within the main hospital trapezoid. Although discussions have been ongoing, Scott has not
had feedback from hospital representatives as yet on this issue. Scott plans to follow-up with
Joann Magnatta on this issue in the next few weeks.

Jerry Berenson reported that the new academic year at Bryn Mawr was well underway with
enrollment holding steady. However, students seem to have fewer funds than in the recent past.
Construction has been finished on the Goodhart Theater which reopened in September and new
sidewalks are being installed now. A performing arts series is underway.

Scott made note that there is a new President for the Bryn Mawr Business Association, Kathy
Bogosian who is one of the owners of the Camera Shop on Lancaster Avenue. Kathy has
replaced Ken Sherman and she will be the new representative to the Ad Hoc Bryn Mawr
Committee. She has been very helpful in raising funds for the Christmas lights that are now up
and almost fully lighted.

Scott has had no news from the new owners of the Verizon building who have acquired the old
“Stiletto” and “Skirt” site from the owner.

The farmer’s market was very successful over the summer and Eric is collecting final statistical
information from the “Farm to City” representatives. Hank noted that he believes it was very
successful growing and expanding to a certain point with both new vendors and shoppers, but
then leveled off as the summer progressed. There did not seem to be too many students shopping
at the market. However, Jerry noted that all Bryn Mawr students have a full meal program and
there may not be the demand. Jerry met with Farm to City representatives to try to get them
involved with the students by promoting the market on campus. Scott noted that there were
efforts to bring a Farm to City location to the St. Mathias Church parking lot in Bala Cynwyd, but
there are zoning issues with locating a use such as this in a residential zone. There will be a
public hearing in front of the Board of Commissioners soon to discuss the concept of allowing
farmer’s markets to be located on a limited basis in residential districts.

Scott noted that the building owned by Jonathan Briskin has been undergoing renovation. He is
investing a considerable amount in the building and has worked with the Township on his project.

Algar Ferrari is doing extensive renovations at their showroom which is across from the
McDonald’s on Lancaster Avenue. The exterior design is in keeping with the Ferrari corporate
identity rather than the Bryn Mawr Village theme. Algar continues to have success in selling cars
in that location and with the new showroom facilities, will be continuing in Bryn Mawr well into
the future.

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Vince reminded the group that he had submitted the 501(c) (3) application to the Internal
Revenue Service to establish the Bryn Mawr Business Improvement District. The IRS began
their initial review of the documents in October. Vince believes they are putting together a plan
for the district that makes economic sense and is viable for the property owners.

Scott suggested that Vince send all the information to the property owners well in advance of the
actual receipt of the IRS approval. Eric suggested that an open-house be held to inform the
business and residential community of the services, budget, plan and assessment cost proposed.
Alternatively, there could be a presentation at one of the BOC meetings which would be
televised. All property owners would receive a copy of the plan once ready for distribution.

Vince reported that Ken Sherman had previously agreed to sign the contract with the lighting
contractor for the installation of the snowflake lights that are going up in Bryn Mawr. Kathy
Bogosian was seeking funds from business owners to assist in repayment of the obligation that
Mr. Sherman had assumed on behalf of the BMBA.

Scott noted that the High Speed Rail Intercity Passenger Rail (“HSIPR”) Program application
submitted by PennDOT to the Federal Railroad Administration (“FTA”) on October 2nd could
benefit the Amtrak interlockings at the Bryn Mawr station. The application that includes a
request for $32M for the Ardmore Transit Center includes the replacement of interlockings
throughout the Keystone Corridor. This would advance the schedule for removal and relocation
of the Bryn Mawr interlockings by several years if the funds are secured.

2. Discussion of Bryn Mawr TRID Final Plan

Angela discussed the most recent draft of the TRID Plan noting that it was much improved from
the draft reviewed by the Ad Hoc Committee in June. She thanked Rich Bickel for providing
comments on the updated draft and asked that the other members provide their comments as soon
as possible but no later than December 1st. Rich Bickel provided a suggestion to replace the
House Bill that is contained in the appendices with the actual TRID Act. The Act will be
provided to Mac Nichols to make the change.

Angela explained that once the Board of Commissioners has received public comment and
approved the TRID Plan, it will be provided to the Department of Economic and Community
Development (“DCED”) of the state of Pennsylvania for approval. The Township will be asking
the state to accept the technical study and to certify the proposed boundaries. Thereafter,
presentations to various partners as required by the TRID legislation will be made.

Rich recommended submitting to DCED for official designation quickly and to be prepared for
implementation and requests for state funding that would otherwise be unavailable. DCED took a
tremendous hit financially and a serious staffing issue could be likely in the next year. Once the
final plan is complete, a review meeting will be set up with Rich, Toni Crawford-Major and Ron
Bednar from DCED to discuss the Bryn Mawr TRID. Rich offered to host the meeting at
DVRPC.

Other partners to whom presentations will be made include Montgomery County, the Lower
Merion School District, SEPTA and Amtrak. Information that better defines the role of SEPTA
and the role of Amtrak in transit and transportation improvements will be provided. Once
defined, these partnerships will be defined contractually with each entity. Angela clarified that
the owner of the station and other property is Amtrak rather than SEPTA. SEPTA leases the

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Bryn Mawr facilities along with station and parking facilities at 47 stations along the Keystone
Corridor.

The contract included in the appendices is a sample of how the relationships among the partners
could be defined. Improvements including any right of way and public uses that include transit,
transportation and highways would be areas to be addressed in such agreements. The sharing of
revenues will be addressed as part of the overall agreement. Rich explained that the state
legislature intended that funds for maintenance should be set aside since maintenance is difficult
for SEPTA to fund. While there are many sources of funding for capital projects, the lack of
maintenance funds is reflected in the amount of deferred maintenance issues there are on the R5
line. All agreed that contractual definitions for what improvements will be in the purview of
SEPTA and Amtrak will be helpful. The list of potential improvements to be funded from the
TRID funding came from the Bryn Mawr Master Plan. The prioritized list is the starting point for
improvements to be completed over the next 20 years.

Scott added that the planned approach to the redevelopment of Lot 7 will be to secure a private
developer. Agreement will have to be reached with Amtrak that allows for the redevelopment to
include private use of the lot.

Hank suggested that consideration be given to when the plan is presented to the Lower Merion
School District. Scott noted that approval and buy-in from the Commissioners is needed before
going to the school district. At minimum, the TRID legislation requires a presentation be made to
the local School District even though their participation is not mandatory although desirable.
Scott understood from the Township CFO that the Township’s residential assessments will be
reduced this year for the first time. This is a change in typical assessments which normally
improve slightly year over year particularly in Montgomery County Townships.

In response to a question about the status of other TRID plans that are in process, Rich replied
that Marcus Hook in Delaware County and Bensalem in Bucks County are the two TRIDS that
are making the most progress. Rich believes that the Bryn Mawr Plan will likely be the
benchmark for TRID Plans in the Commonwealth.

Rich reported that Senator Arlen Specter has introduced draft legislation that proposes a concept
called “Regional Infrastructure Improvement Zones” (“RIIZ”). The concept was developed by
the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (“OKI”) to address declining
sources of transportation and infrastructure funding. The concept would allow private
corporations or individuals within a designated district or zone to make contributions for
infrastructure improvements that would be either a tax-deductible contribution or tax credit on
federal tax forms. Creating such a zone would serve to raise revenue for capital improvements
including non-transportation capital improvements such as for storm water and sewer. Other
types of projects could include road repair, transit facility repairs, historic preservation of transit
facilities, bridge repair, etc.

The white paper prepared by OKI suggests that such zones operate similarly to Economic
Development Districts and require local Metropolitan Planning Organizations (“MPO”) such as
DVRPC to work with local governments on creating such zones. Rich will be presenting this
concept to the DVRPC Board as one that is being promoted by the National Association of
Regional Councils (“NARC”) staff. This is potentially a very good idea that will likely carry
over into next year’s congressional consideration.

Scott asked that committee members provide their comments on the TRID Plan by December 1st.

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The next meeting of the Ad Hoc Bryn Mawr Committee will be on Thursday, January 15, 2010 at
5:00 PM in the Caucus Room.