Thursday night 12/14 was the Board of Supervisors Meeting at the Municipal building. The first item on the agenda was the adoption of the 2018 budget. The good news is that our 6.5 mil tax rate is staying the same. Taxes will not be going up for the township! Lori Fox introduced to the board our group, East Allen CARD, Citizens for Accountability & Responsible Development. She requested clarity on some of the line items in the budget. She also gave the board samples of both Bath and Freemansburg’s proposed 2018 budgets. These budgets show examples how our township’s future budgets could be more informative and transparent for the residents.

Some items on an increase for 2018:

  1. Legal – General – We have 2 appeals that are in Northampton County Court. Our Board of Supervisors are appealing the decision by our Zoning board on a height variance that Vertek requested and Rockefeller is a appealing our Supervisors 5 – 0 vote to keep the land behind the new FedEx agricultural. These appeals do come at a price.
  2. Labor Counsel & Consulting Services – Last year our Public Works and Park Maintenance workers went union. Both labor counsel and services add to an increase in our budget. The union contract is still in negotiations.
    The board assures us that the contract will be made available to the public for review.
  3. Administration – Salaries of our Manager, Secretary/Treasurer and Office Assistants (non union) rose by 3%. Two new positions are being added to fill the vacancies left open in October.

Our Township Manager, Ms. Seiple announced her retirement effective at the end of the first quarter 2018. We would like to thank her for over 38 years of service to our township and wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

This meeting was the last for Supervisors Mr. Robert Mills and Ms. Maggie Kemp. We want to thank them for their service to our community and for hearing the voice of the people with their “NO” vote to the Rock rezone. We would like to wish them the very best.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Ms. Fox addressed the board with a request for help and guidance in enforcing a ban on Weaversville Road. LVPC recently identified Weaversville Road as a congested corridor. They also stated that Weaversville Road (SR3017) prohibits vehicles over 102” wide trailer and 28.5 feet long. We would like to thank the board members, in particular the chair for their willingness to help us. The Township Manager agreed to work with Ms. Fox in writing a letter to all pertinent parties to deal with:

  • Over size tractor trailers
  • Re-evaluating the speed limits on the “S” curves
  • Speeding traffic and passing over a double yellow line
  • Use of truck jack breaks

With the increase in traffic, Weaversville Road is a potential hazard that will only get worse. Did you also know that the Lehigh Valley received F grades for air quality by the American Lung Association? Our air quality will NOT improve with the addition of more warehouses! We are committed to making a difference. Please help us get the word out.