| Forks Action Committee |
| Homepage - Last Day of the Month |
| December 31, 2006 |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| Public Meeting - Youth Dances The first public meeting to discuss the Forks Township Youth Sports Organization dances for 5th - 7th graders was held on December 5. It was sparsely attended by the public but was well represented by the press. Channel 69 was there as were Joe Nixon (Morning Call) and Courtney Lomax (Express Times). Please read their articles for details. To date, three parents who attended have written Express Times Letters To The Editor - Dawn Halloway, David Billings, and Joe Luciano. Please read them for more points of view. Dances are still suspended pending resolution of the issues. A sub-committee will continue to work on the rules enforcement problem and will report back to the Board. When all parties are satisfied the dances will resume. ............................................................. The Forks Township website news page lists this upcoming meeting.between the Parks & Recreation Committee, officials of the Forks Township Youth Sports Organization, and the Rec. Board. The public is encouraged to attend. The meeting is the first in an attempt to remedy the problems witnessed at the youth dances and detailed by Forks resident/parent/chaperone, Karen Haduck, in her November 1st Express Times guest column. |
|
In case any of you wonder how our website and blog are doing lately, here are some graphs to view. Double click on the
images below for larger views. We are excited at the traffic we are getting. Thank you all! Tell your friends!
images below for larger views. We are excited at the traffic we are getting. Thank you all! Tell your friends!
The December 7 meeting of the Board of Supervisors was one of the shortest in recent memory. Both Joe
Nixon (Morning Call) and Courtney Lomax (Express Times) were there. There was no online report by Nixon and only an "in
brief" note in the Express Times. Added 12/24 --> The Easton News' Jan Schott's article appeared in their 12/13 edition.
Please read it.
The meeting was preceded by a workshop to review the DPW job descriptions. There was discussion and it was decided that
any Supervisors who had suggestions will put them in writing and submit them to the Public Works Committee. The full Board
will vote on them as soon as they are redone.
Some of the meeting highlights include:
Normally our detailed meeting notes are up posted on our blog before the website is updated. We had a reversal this week
and the blog notes will be delayed a day or two. Our apologies. There's still plenty to read there, so do visit and don't be afraid
to put in your two cents!
Nixon (Morning Call) and Courtney Lomax (Express Times) were there. There was no online report by Nixon and only an "in
brief" note in the Express Times. Added 12/24 --> The Easton News' Jan Schott's article appeared in their 12/13 edition.
Please read it.
The meeting was preceded by a workshop to review the DPW job descriptions. There was discussion and it was decided that
any Supervisors who had suggestions will put them in writing and submit them to the Public Works Committee. The full Board
will vote on them as soon as they are redone.
Some of the meeting highlights include:
- Contract negotiations are stalled for the non-uniformed employees. A State mediator has been contacted. It is likely
that there will be no contract in place at year end. - T-Mobile wants to erect a tower on municipal property somewhere in Forks. No one knows where and they will
probably be invited to make a presentation to the Board. - Supervisor Miller expressed his thanks to DPW Director Gary Sandt and to Parks Crew Chief Ed Kleppinger for the tree
decorations in front of the Community Center. - Two DPW workers will go to their second seminar on tree trimming. The cost is $175 each for 4 days and at the end
the men will receive certification. - Supervisors Miller and Howell met with David Hopkins of the Easton Public Works Department regarding Eddyside
Pool. Hopkins said that 30% of the pool revenues come from Forks resident users. Pool tickets will be sold at the
Community Center (for 2007). - Supervisor Hoff reported that interviews are in progress for the Township Manager position.
- Engineer Fred Hay said that the DVR damage was likely from an electrical surge and not a lightening strike. He
recommended that the Township install surge protection to see if that corrects the problem before installing lightening
protection. There is concern that installing lightening protection will void the roof warranties. - Knollwood Estates Phase II final plan was approved subject to conditions mostly dealing with the bike path. In the
discussion we learned that the path in Penn's Ridge is short of reaching Knollwood by approximately 50'. - PennDot agreed to lower the speed limit on Richmond Road (between Meco and Newlins) to 35 mph. The Township
must return the State's 45 mph sighs. PennDot declined to lower the limits on Route 611. - John Castrovinci, PC member and Principal of the Forks Elementary School, got the Board's okay to relocate the polling
place to the Community Center. Miller said that there is enough room there to accommodate Eastern 2. Castrovinci
will write to the Northampton County Voters Office. According to Howell, the presence of people and cars on election
day is very disruptive at the school. - There was a 2-1/2 hour Executive Session to discuss the King's Mill litigation, the grocery litigation, and some
personnel issues.
Normally our detailed meeting notes are up posted on our blog before the website is updated. We had a reversal this week
and the blog notes will be delayed a day or two. Our apologies. There's still plenty to read there, so do visit and don't be afraid
to put in your two cents!
The 35 minute main meeting of the Board of Supervisors on December 21st was not absent interesting items. Only
3 Supervisors were there; Supervisors Hoff and Ackerman were away on vacation. Courtney Lomax (Express Times), Joe
Nixon (Morning Call), and a reporter from the Easton News (the new free weekly) were there. The announced results of the
2006 recreation survey captured their interest. And, so it should... seems some folks want a bikepath bridge to be built over
Sullivan Trail! Open space was dealt a blow by those who voted against a small tax increase to pay for it (499:533).
Other items of note:
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.
3 Supervisors were there; Supervisors Hoff and Ackerman were away on vacation. Courtney Lomax (Express Times), Joe
Nixon (Morning Call), and a reporter from the Easton News (the new free weekly) were there. The announced results of the
2006 recreation survey captured their interest. And, so it should... seems some folks want a bikepath bridge to be built over
Sullivan Trail! Open space was dealt a blow by those who voted against a small tax increase to pay for it (499:533).
Other items of note:
- Barry Miles, Forks resident and former Kiwanis member, donated $1000 to the Kiwanis in honor of his father and
specifically for a flagpole in Forks. The Kiwanis, in turn, donated the $1000 to the Forks fire department. There will be a
dedication plaque made honoring Mr. Miles father. The money will be used to purchase 2 on building flagpoles. It was
accepted by Bryan Weis, Deputy Fire Chief. - Nicholas noted that one of the Township Manager candidates told her that his township conducts impact analyses (to
assess the impacts on fire departments, police departments, road crews, EMS, etc.) before developers are given the
okay to build. She suggested that the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors discuss this further. - 2007 Public Safety Committee meetings (with Supervisors Hoff and Nicholas) will be held on the 1st Tuesday of the
month beginning in February. Because the BoS re-organization meeting will be held on the 1st Tuesday in January,
there will be no Public Safety Committee meeting in January. - Supervisor Howell reported that the Finance & Administration Committee met with a representative from a bond house
to review all possibilities for refinancing the Township's debt and that they have "taken it under advisement." - Solicitor Kline reported that the sewer plant has assessed the Township an unusually high year end fee. The amount
was not disclosed and Finance Manager Farley was asked to look into the numbers as they do not "jibe" with the
Township's. A report will be made to the Board when all questions/answers are clarified. - Ordinance #301, the ordinance needed to co-sign the Community Fire Company's PEMA loan for its new fire truck, was
approved in a 3:0 vote. The money will go to repay the funds advanced to the fire company when it picked up the truck. - Farley was designated as the FEMA/PEMA reimbursement agent for the Township. This was necessary so that the
Township can recoup $5200 from FEMA/PEMA towards its flood cleanup expenses. - The recreation survey was answered by 1078 individuals. It was mailed to 5196 households. That's a 21% return rate.
The survey data was compiled using a weighted number. If an item was ranked #1 (out of 5) by a respondent, it was
given 5 points, #2 was given 4 points, etc. This was explained by Farley to clarify why the numbers didn't add. - A swimming pool got the most points (using the weighted average ranking system) with a recreation bridge over
Sullivan Trail a close second. Supervisor Miller said that he thought there might be grant funds available to build the
bridge (because it is a greenway). One hundred and fifty three residents said that they would join a garden club to help
beautify the park entrances. - The 2007 budget was passed in a 3:0 vote. There was no discussion. Forks taxes are not going up in 2007!
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.
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |