Upper Nazareth Township Meetings

PUBLIC COMMENTS

As with the reorganization meeting, copies of the minutes were not made available. On January 4^th, Township Manager Edward Mentry described this as an oversight, at tonight’s meeting he said the supervisors had decided minutes would no longer be provided to the public.

This statement provoked an angry response from several residents. Complaints included:

• The decision to not provide minutes was never opened for public comment, supervisors made the decision in secret.
• The claim that the minutes are available on the website is incorrect. None of the minutes from the December meetings or the January 4^th meeting were posted.
• In September 2015, the supervisors stopped providing a list of Active Projects, preventing residents from tracking progress on infrastructure development in the township
• At the meetings, Treasurer’s Reports are posted on a screen but only briefly. Other townships hand out paper copies.
• Reports from the Library and Fire Department are provided to the supervisors, but the residents never get to see those documents.
• One resident said that the whole point of going to the meetings was to get information. She shouldn’t have to make another trip to the township office and that the supervisors seemed to be sending the message that the public was not welcome at these meetings.

After acknowledging that residents had every right to be pissed off, the supervisors agreed to begin providing draft copies of the minutes and treasurer reports at meetings, and to keep the website updated.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

A public forum to discuss the construction of the traffic light at Friedenstahl Avenue and Route 191 will be held on February 3^rd, from 6:00-7:00 at the township meeting.

The tax collector will no longer send out Interim tax bills if the amount is under $5.00.

Riley and Company will be conducting two 2015 audits for the township: a Real Estate audit and a financial audit.

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK

Motion to place an advertisement for a public forum to discuss the construction of a traffic light at Friedenstahl Avenue for an estimated cost of $150.50. Motion passed.

Motion to sign a 5 year lease for a Mac Dump Truck at an estimated cost of $45,000/year. This cost was included in the 2016 budget. Motion passed. Estimated delivery of the truck will be in 2-6 months.

Motion to pay for the treasurer and manager to attend a convention for township executives. Payment will include registration fees and hotel costs. Motion passed.

Motion to advertise an amendment to make a change to the police pension fund  (#170) for an estimated cost of $170. Motion passed.

Motion to provide clear glass plaques for the sponsors of Community Day. Estimate cost – $500. Motion passed.

Becky Bartlett is a resident of Upper Nazareth. She covers these meetings because the public has the right to be informed on what their government is doing.