Forks Action Committee
Homepage - Last Day of the Month
October 31, 2005
The October 20, 2005 Board of Supervisors meeting, was a long one.  Both area newspapers
were represented, Sarah Mausolf for the Express Times and Fred Walter for the Morning Call.  This
meeting was filled with Township business.  There were no projects on the table.  There were two pre-
meeting sessions of note also.  The first, at 6:30 PM was a Q&A Workshop on the Fire Department’s Five
Year Plan and the second, at 7:00 PM was the Conditional Use Hearing for the proposed Riverview
Recreation Center.  Both were later discussed during the regular meeting at 7:30 PM.  

The meeting in a nutshell:
  • Township Manager Cathy Kichline has done research on dog parks and included her findings in
    the Boards packets.
  • Kichline will be meeting with PennDot on October 27th regarding a possible traffic control device
    for the Arndt/Bushkill intersection.
  • Kichline reported that the Township received a $126K dividend from its health care provider for
    2004 because of  Township employees’ good experience record.
  • DPW Director Gary Sandt reported that leaf collection will begin on Monday, October 24th.
  • The residents of Lockwood Congress will not get a sidewalk on Old Mill Road but they will get a
    bike path that they can use as a pedestrian way to walk to the Giant shopping center.
  • A resident asked why the Township would do business with an EMS provider when that provider
    is 3/4 of million dollars in the red.
  • Another resident asked if the Township would please invite the Easton Suburban Water Authority
    to a Supervisors meeting to explain the advantages and disadvantages (of the possible take over
    of the City of Easton Water Department) to Forks residents.
  • The Municipal Complex finish date has been pushed back because of the roofer who stopped
    work because the general contractor had not paid him.
  • There were many roof leaks during last weekend’s heavy rainfall and the Police Department roof
    will need 200 square feet of roofing ripped off to find the source of the leaks.    
  • Supervisor Nicholas has offered a blue spruce from her yard for transplant to the Municipal
    Building.
  • The site of the path to Gollub park will take one more meeting to be determined for sure.
  • The Community Action Committee Of The Lehigh Valley has asked the Township to renew its
    promised support for the Valley’s shelters.  Apparently, in 2001 (the last year that the Township
    made a contribution) the Township said that a contribution would be an annual budget line item.  
  • Conditional Use was granted for the private Riverview Recreation Center.
  • Strausser Enterprises has been given until November 30, 2005 to finish the punch list of undone
    items in Riverview Phase I.  After that, if the items are not finished, the Township will use money
    from the Strausser letter of credit to complete the project.
  • The probationary period for Public Works Director Gary Sandt has ended and he is now officially IT.
      Congratulations!
  • Ron Phillips is no longer Forks' part-time mechanic.  He is now its full-time mechanic.  
    Congratulations!
  • The Fire Department was given authorization to advertise for bids for a new fire engine, a pumper
    to replace the 1983 one.  
  • A resident asked that recreation fees be placed on next meeting’s agenda and said that he
    couldn’t afford them.  To that Supervisor Don Miller declared, “I don’t know how you can afford to
    live in Forks Township then.”  

Please read our blog for more meeting details!  Don't forget to read some of the other posts there... and
the Comments too.  Don't be afraid to join in the discussion(s) and add your own Comments.  
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The October 6, 2005 Board of Supervisors meeting was preceded at 6:30 PM with a presentation by Deputy Fire Chief Bryan
Weis of the Fire Department’s “aggressive” Five Year Plan.  Both Sarah Mausolf (Express Times) and Joe Nixon (Morning Call)
wrote detailed articles about it.  Their articles are suggested reading!  Weis’ presentation was excellent.  

At this meeting we learned:

  1. Forks Police Department is very close to being the first and only accredited department in Northampton County.  If all
    goes well this will be a reality by Thanksgiving.  
  2. The Frost Hollow swale is near completion and the road paving to fix the areas that Easton Suburban Water worked on
    will begin soon.
  3. Trick or Treat night is scheduled for October 31st from 6-8 PM.
  4. Recreation Land Acquisition is funded by developers’ fees.
  5. There will no longer be trash disposal discounts granted to any Township resident.  Apparently 12 (part time) residents
    have enjoyed discounts in the past.
  6. Forks is the only municipality in the State collecting permit fees for political signs.  It was explained that the fees are
    refunded as long as the signs are removed within 7 days of an election and they serve as a guarantee that the Township
    will not have to do the sign pick-ups.  
  7. There will be a Conditional Use Hearing for Strausser Enterprises’ Recreation Center at 7:00 PM on October 20th
    (preceding the regular Board meeting.)
  8. The residents of Chestnut Commons are having problems with their swale and Engineer Fred Hay has been directed to
    look into it.  
  9. Gollub Park (the Township land at Paxinosa Point) may get a bit easier to find when the Township puts in an 8' wide
    path and the folks trekking to the park from its parking lot will no longer be walking on private property.  There is hope
    that the major trees there can be saved.
  10. Riverview Estates West has swapped land along the western edge of their development for the Township owned rail
    bed that snakes through their land.  The new path will connect with existing paths and the Township land on the corner
    of Newlins and Richmond.  
  11. The Township will be purchasing a brand new (5 times the capacity of our existing equipment) vacuum leaf loader.  This
    should save time and fuel.  
  12. The Township is over budget on some line items, mostly, you guessed it, FUEL!

And, Police Chief Dorney has developed a manual of Standard Operating Procedures to facilitate cooperation with the new
Easton Area School District Police Department at Shawnee School.  Chairman Ackerman thought it too complicated while
Supervisor Nicholas commended it for taking the onus of liability off of Forks.  Supervisor Holmgaard (police department
liaison) said simply that “we cannot operate without guidelines.”  It was adopted unanimously.  

Please read our blog for more meeting details!  Don't forget to read some of the other posts there... and the Comments too.  
Don't be afraid to join in the discussion(s) and add your own Comments.  
Howell Banner Around Town
The Forks Action Committee enthusiastically endorses C. David Howell for Supervisor in the November
2005 election.  Click on the VOTE tab to read our endorsement and click on ANY of the HOWELL links
(underlined Howell text and campaign buttons too) to read more about him.

Your vote will make a difference when you elect Mr. Howell as the newest member of the Forks Township
Board of Supervisors.  The Primary is over.  ELECT HOWELL in November!

For more information and/or to volunteer to work on the campaign, please click here and we will respond
shortly!
Forks Action Committee