TREVORTON - There were no change in the officers among the Zerbe Township Board of Supervisors following a reorganization meeting Tuesday night.
Michael Schwartz was retained as chairman while Mike Mazer remains secretary/treasurer and Harry Rebuck roadmaster. All appointments were approved by a 2-0 vote with the person nominated abstaining.
Other reappointments made were Wiest, Muolo, Noon and Swinehart law firm as solicitor, Union Bank and Trust as depository, William F. Hill and Associates Inc. as engineers, Douglas Parker, CPA, as auditor, Ellen Troutman as township clerk and open records officers, Jerome Bulchie in maintenance, Edwin Reed as sewer operator, Steven Stiely and William Breinich as laborers, Robert John as police chief and George Renn on the vacancy board.
New appointments made were Berkheimer Tax Administrator as earned-income tax collector, Joshua Moyer as a part-time police officer, Craig Scott, David Miller, Angela Wilkinson and Melissa Tharp as members of the recreation committee, and Dean Sampsell, David Miller and Larry Coutlee as the township's board of appeals.
Raises, flooding, ATVs
The board also held its January monthly meeting Tuesday night with a number of issues discussed, including the approval of a 3-percent raise for all township employees by a unanimous vote. Employees and their new pay rates are as follows: street workers Jerome Bulchie, $15.55 an hour, and William Breining, $9.81 an hour; sewer workers Edwin Reed, $16.24 an hour, and Steven Stiely, $10.14 an hour, and township secretary Ellen Township, $11.94 an hour.
On Dec. 20, Schwartz and Rebuck met with representatives of the federal and Pennsylvania emergency management agencies for a tour where flooding had severely affected Zerbe Township, including areas of Zerbe Run. The next step, Schwartz said, is to get documentation and apply for funding.
Board members talked about the $1.5 million grant received by Northumberland County for the Anthracite Outdoor Adventure Area (AOAA), which includes property in Zerbe and four other townships. The supervisors hope Reading Anthracite will meet with the township to discuss using the "Flats" as a second welcoming area for the AOAA, and to discuss issues of ATV riding at Coal Hill. It is their hope that if the company won't meet with the township directly, the county would discuss the matter on the township's behalf and that the county will continue to contact Reading on the township's behalf.
A resolution was passed to submit an application for Pennsylvania Infrastructure and Investment Authority (PennVEST) funding for refurbishing the township's sewer plant.
The township was informed it was awarded a $2,041 grant for its recycling efforts from the state Department of Environmental Protection, but denied a grant from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to resurface tennis courts.
Christmas trees will be picked up by township employees until Friday, Jan. 13.