The Lehigh Township Board of Supervisors met on Tuesday, November 22 at 7 p.m.
The recreation board announced the township’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony will be held on Saturday, December 3 at 5 p.m. in Bryfogle Park. Anyone interested in helping with setup is asked to be at the park by 2 p.m. There will be vendors providing food and hot beverages for the event, as well as a performance by the elementary school chorus, and Santa Claus has promised to arrive at 5:30 p.m. K9 officer Cash will also be at the event and is looking forward to meeting Santa.
Frank Zamadics gave the public works report, and requested that it be announced on the township website that the yard waste center will be closed throughout February and March of next year. This will give the workers time to clean out the center and regravel the parking lot, weather permitting. They are gathering quotes regarding the removal of dead trees in Pennsville; one quote has been received thus far and another is expected within a week. Board member David Hess also contacted someone who will be providing a third quote within days. Leaf pickup and winter preparations are still in progress. A candidate has been found to fill the vacancy in the public works department, and the board approved a motion to extend a job offer to the individual provided they meet the required criteria.
Elizabeth Amato reported that the zoning board met twice in the past month. As mentioned in October, they have drafted and now submitted proposed edits to the ordinance regarding landscaping contractor definitions. After a brief discussion, the board decided to wait until the next meeting to make a motion to advertise the ordinance changes, as not all members have been able to read the proposal thoroughly. In response to a resident’s inquiry, it was explained that the proposed edits will clean up the wording of the ordinance and make it easier for small businesses to operate in Lehigh Township. The changes will “protect the little guy” with multiple vehicles at one address.
Police Chief Scott Fogel reminded residents yet again to be watchful for deer on the road, stating half of all traffic accidents in the past month have been deer-related. Otherwise, it has been a light month. At the time of the meeting, the blood drive for November 23 was shaping up to be a great success, with almost all of the available donation slots having been filled. The Marine Corps. along with the Lehigh Township Police Dept. will conduct a Toys for Tots drive-through event at the Lehigh Twp. Vol. Fire Co. on Saturday, December 3 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with Marines arriving to personally oversee the event around noon. In addition to toys, cash donations will also be accepted.
The contractor of the Cherryville intersection is on site and the work is in progress. It is expected to be completed within the next couple of weeks.
Township Manager Alice Rehrig was pleased to announce that Lehigh Township has been awarded a $1.5 million grant for repairs to the maintenance building. This was met with cheers from all in attendance of the meeting. The grant program in question is a matching program, so Rehrig asked the board to authorize her to have the building reappraised in order to better utilize the grant. This was approved, and board member Gerald Pritchard also stated the building committee should reassemble to examine the numbers. Their representative will be invited to have a meeting with Frank Zamadics and the board; Rehrig will make the arrangements.
An ordinance was approved establishing a speed limit of 30 miles per hour on West Walker Road. Meanwhile, an amendment has been drafted to the existing ordinance concerning the police pension plan and this will be advertised for public comment.
Township Solicitor David Backenstoe brought forth a resolution concerning provisions for property tax penalty waivers. He discovered that this particular resolution has a looming deadline, so he moved forward with the drafting without discussing it previously with the board. It concerns real estate purchases which take place near the distribution of property tax bills, and will protect new property owners from penalties on late tax payments caused by not receiving their tax bills on time, so long as they meet all of the resolution’s criteria. The board unanimously approved the resolution and it will be sent to the tax collector.
Because of the New Year’s holiday, the reorganization meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, January 3. It was reported that John Deere has contacted the board and is still demanding full payment of their invoice. Fully executed agreements have been received from the Northwoods project and everything is ready to proceed.
The next meeting of the board of supervisors is scheduled for Tuesday, December 13 at 7 p.m. in the municipal building at 1069 Municipal Rd., Walnutport.
