January 6, 2020 – UNT Supervisor’s Meeting
Announcements
Welcome to new Supervisor Kristin Mullen
January 7th – Auditor Meeting at 7:00PM
January 9th – Planning Commission Meeting at 7:00 PM
January 15th – Board of Supervisor’s Meeting at 7:00PM
Reorganization Meeting
Supervisor Board
- Chair – Mike Rinker
- Vice Chair – Robert Disbrow
Professional Appointments
- Keystone Consulting Engineers were appointed to be the Township Engineer and the State Sewage Enforcement Officer
Volunteer Appointments
- Donna Hirst was appointed to the Supervisor representative to the Library Budget Committee by vote of 3 to 2—Scott Sylvanius and Kristin Mullen voted against. (Editor’s Note: Ms. Hirst has been openly hostile to the Library staff at several meetings implying, without providing evidence, that they have committed some kind of financial fraud.)
- James Cunningham was appointed as a township representative to the Nazareth Library Board by a vote of 3 to 2—Sylvanius and Mullen voted against. (Editor’s Note: Three people submitted Letters of Interest for the position but only two were listed on the agenda: Jennifer Acker and Evan Davis. James Cunningham submitted his letter after the deadline and yet Supervisors still accepted his application with Donna Hirst motioning him to be appointed. Mr. Cunningham was one of the few, if not the only, township resident who publicly spoke out in favor of slashing library funding at 2019 supervisor meetings.)
Compensation for Employees in the 2020 Budget passed 4 to 1 with Scott Sylvanius voting against.
- Township Manager – $88,0000
- FT Chief of Police – $98,092
- FT Public Works Director – $78,291
Resolutions No. 20-01 to 20-06 were passed. Copies of resolutions are not provided to the residents in attendance. I asked about that during Courtesy of the Floor and Township Manager Lisa Klem claimed the township is not required to provide resolution details to the public.
Courtesy of the Floor
A resident asked about how much money the township gets from the EIT tax. (Answer – about $1 million). The money goes into the General Fund but, with the new tax passed during the November 5th election, Open Space funds will go into a separate account.
A resident from Gun Club Road wanted to know who the primary Right-to-Know officer for the township was because it wasn’t clear under the ‘Professional Appointments’ section. Answer – Kim Mutarelli.
Another Gun Club Road resident asked if the township is currently in debt: Answer – No, but it’s running a $135,000 deficit. How much of a raise did employees get for 2020 – Answer 3%. How many years has the township been running a deficit – Answer, since 2015. The resident asked why there’d been a 5% raise for some employees in 2016 and why two employees got a 17% increase in 2017 (one salary increased from $74,000 to $98,000). He pointed out that this was a fiscally irresponsible manner of operating a municipality considering the 50% cut to the library supervisors passed last year.
Holiday Party
Robert Disbrow thanked the East Lawn Twp Social Club for donating the Holiday Party.
Township Supervisor
Approval of Resolution No. 20-07 – Intergovernmental Cooperation Shared Equipment Agreement between UNT and Bath Borough. Gary Asteak read off the list of equipment that the two municipalities but so fast I couldn’t write it down and, of course, UNT doesn’t provide copies of the resolutions to the people who attend the meeting. If you want to know what equipment is involved, you’ll have to call the township office.
Your Tax Dollars at Work
Approval to send six people to the PSATS conference in May. Lisa Klem, Kristin Mullen, Mike Rinker and Sean Shupe will attend with Lisa Kelm acting as delegate.
Approval to decommission a 2005 Ford Expedition used by the Police Department.
Approval to accept a letter of resignation from a Part-time officer.
Becky Bartlett covers these meetings because citizens have a right to know what their government is doing.
Upper Nazareth Township Meetings 