SAINT CLAIR - The borough council approved a motion to rescind the denial of the Aspen Dental land development submission Tuesday night.
Solicitor Edward Brennan said that the motion was based on recent submissions from the Coal Creek Commerce Center and it will now go back to the Saint Clair Planning Commission for further review.
The dental chain, which has more than 340 practices in 22 states and offers patients a full range of dental and denture services, plans to come into Schuylkill County by the end of the year with a dental practice at Coal Creek Commerce Center, 400 Terry Rich Blvd.
The proposed area to be developed is to the right of Terry Rich Boulevard when coming from Route 61.
According to newspaper archives, the borough council denied the land development submission without prejudice at the February meeting as there were still arguments about the old railroad bridge for vehicular use to be settled.
At that time, borough engineer Brian Baldwin of Alfred Benesch & Co., Pottsville, said it was his firm's position that a complete set of structural rehabilitation plans and specifications be prepared, signed and sealed by a state-registered structural authority engineer and provided for review, which were not included with the submission.
Representatives of the commerce center were at the meeting Tuesday night stating they were anxious to move forward with the project, but there were some "continuing, unresolved matters" that they believed required direction from the borough council before they could complete their review with the engineer and planning commission.
The representatives, attorney Gretchen Coles Sterns, Pottsville, and Terrance Ryan, president of R&R Property Managers Inc., Gilberton, provided a letter to the borough council that said Baldwin unilaterally requested the structural plans.
It also stated the bridge was clearly shown on the plans that the borough provided in 2007 for Coal Creek Commerce Center, which accepted the existing bridge and stated that when the south side of Terry Rich Boulevard is developed, the developer would submit details of the improvements for the bridge and "details refers to specifics."
The details of the bridge rehabilitation were said to be submitted to Baldwin at 10:13 a.m. Jan. 23.
Sterns said that while they understand the borough wants to ensure the safety of the bridge, in an effort to alleviate any concerns, a report verifying the structural integrity of the bridge was prepared by John M. Walaitis, railroad bridge inspector for the Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad, Port Clinton, and was submitted via email Feb. 20.
"This bridge issue has been a sticking point through the whole first review process and I anticipate will continue to be," Sterns said.
Councilman John Burke, who is also the borough council's representative on the planning commission, reiterated what he said last month and stated that while the bridge hasn't been used in at least 30 years, they want to make sure it is structurally sound and safe as a walkway since children from the borough walk that way all the time to get to Gamestop and other businesses in the commerce center.
While there may not be enough room to put in a sidewalk on the bridge, the representatives of Coal Creek were asked if they could come up with alternatives to possibly have some sort of walking path from the borough that could be presented at the next meeting with the planning commission to be held sometime later this month.
Baldwin was not present at the meeting to respond to any questions from Coal Creek Commerce Center representatives.
In other business, the borough accepted the resignation of Stephen Bobella as the emergency management coordinator due to him now residing in East Norwegian Township.
Vincent Alessi, who had been Bobella's assistant, was appointed as the new emergency management coordinator, while Bobella was appointed as the assistant per his request.