Supervisors unanimously appointed Carl Faust of Blue Mountain Inspection Services as the township's new zoning officer, replacing longtime zoning officer LeRoy Liebenguth, who retired in December after 11 years of service.

The motion carried unanimously, but there was some questioning by Supervisor Frank Ruch, who wondered if Faust's duties as code enforcement officer would be in conflict with the zoning duties. Supervisor Bruce Steigerwalt said he didn't think there would be a conflict."He serves as both in some other municipalities, I believe," Steigerwalt said. The issue seemed to resolve itself as Ruch joined in the 5-0 vote to appoint Faust, who was also reappointed as the building code enforcement officer.Other than this new appointment, few surprises occurred during a routine reorganization meeting as Mahoning Township supervisors voted to retain Chairman John Wieczorek and Vice Chairman Frank Ruch with no opposition. Wieczorek and Ruch abstained respectively from their appointment votes.Natalie Haggerty was also reappointed as secretary-treasurer with a unanimous vote. Her pay rate was called into question, however. A first motion to appoint her at her current rate of $20.17 plus a 3 percent increase failed on a 2-2 vote with an abstention by her husband and fellow supervisor Shawn Haggerty.Wieczorek and Ruch voted for the increase while supervisors Kerry Verrastro and Steigerwalt voted against it."I thought we budgeted a 3.5 percent increase or 70 cents more per hour," said Verrastro and then made a second motion to appoint Haggerty with the 70 cents increase, bringing her rate to $20.87 per hour. That motion carried 4-0 with Supervisor Haggerty again abstaining.Also reappointed were solicitor Tom Nanovic, Engineering firm LTL, encroachment officer Ronald Reeser and sewage enforcement officer Scott Beiber, all with unanimous votes.A vote to reappoint emergency management coordinator Debbie Binder was delayed until the regular Wednesday meeting after Ruch questioned whether she should be a resident of the township. Wieczorek asked Natalie Haggerty to check with county EMA coordinator Mark Nalesnik and the solicitor to find out and agreed to table the appointment until Wednesday night.Meetings were set to the first Wednesday of each month on a 4-1 vote with Wieczorek being the sole opposition. He said in the past he believed there was too much material to handle in one night and the board should return to a two-night monthly meeting, but his was the only opposition. The next regular meeting of the board will be 6 p.m. Wednesday at the township building.