Dave Albright, Chestnuthill Township manager, and Bill Chappell, consultant for GIS Tech Solutions, a private company, presented information to the supervisors and the public about the Monroe County 9-1-1 Readdressing Project coming to the township.

The countywide readdressing came about through the efforts of the Monroe County Control Center to find a way to reduce the response time for emergency responders (fire, police and ambulance), to be able to proceed to an incident more efficiently.It has involved all roads in the township to be reviewed. Many have retained their names, others have been renamed and new roads given names.Every driveway will be given a number which has to be displayed. Everyone will be given a new address. Banks, utility companies, insurance, Social Security, magazines, businesses, etc. will have to be notified of the address change. P.O. boxholders, will continue to have their PO Box address but you will also be given a physical address for Emergency Service Response and to receive parcel deliveries (UPS, FedEx, etc.) and the new number your are given must be displayed.Homeowners and businesses have one year from the day they receive the letter to comply.Some townships have already received their letters. Eldred Township received theirs Aug. 27."It will be quite an undertaking. There will be some errors. We need to be ready. We need to set an ordinance on what the new signs will look like and where they are to be placed," said Albright.Chappell said that 9,000 letters will be sent out in the township explaining the 9-1-1 readdressing. Once the letters are received, he and GIS are ready to manage the calls that will come in with questions and will help the supervisors write the ordinance needed.The cost to send out the mailer notifying the homeowners and businesses of their new address will cost $11,500, without postage.Supervisor Chairman, Chuck Gould said that he lived here all his life and this is one of the biggest things to happen to this area. He's not happy about the amount of money it will take to do this but knows it is for the community's benefit."We have worked with Bill's company on other things and I know it's an A+ company," he said.Supervisor Chris Eckert added that the biggest reason for doing the readdressing is so fire, police and ambulances can locate your house.A member of the West End Vol. Fire Co. asked how firemen will know about the new addresses and Albright said that new township maps will be made available to all emergency services.The board approved in a vote of 3-0, $19,000 for the 9-1-1 readdressing project.In other township business, the supervisors voted 3-0 to:*authorize bids for snow removal subcontractors.*approve the Louis and Carol Herfurth minor subdivision, located primarily in Polk Township of Mill Pond Rd. and Weir Mt. Rd.'s final plan*table William Green III minor subdivision, located at intersection of Rt. 115 and Effort/Neola Rd.*approve Mary Christman estate (formerly Ester Hottenstien estate) located on Jonas Road.*approve to release a $400,234.00 bond to Mountain Crest Plaza for a land development located along Rt 115.*table the final approval for the Connie Merwine major subdivision and land development plan, located along Rt. 209 by the Fireworks Barn where a Tractor Supply store is proposed to be built, due to waiting for outside agency approval.*table the final approval for the Connie Merwine major subdivision and land development plan.There will be a CPR/First Aid Class on Wednesday, Sept. 15 from 6-10 p.m. at the Chestnuthill Township Park building on Rt. 715, Brodheadsville. Trick or Treat in the park will be held on Sunday, Oct. 31 from 5-7 p.m. Any questions concerning events at the park, please contact Bernie Kozen, West End Regional Park and Open Space Commission Executive Director at 570-992-9733.Carol Kern, director of Western Pocono Community Library addressed the Chestnuthill Township supervisors, stating that the libraries in Pennsylvania has been underfunded for the last eight years. WPCL has cut down on its staff which results in more maintenance. The library has a larger snow blower which requires the library to add 20 feet to the back of the building to house it. Kern requested the supervisors to waive the fees needed for permits would include a twp. building permit of approximately $94 and the Lehigh Valley Inspection Service statewide building code of $1,000.All three supervisors gave approval to waiver the permit fees and thanked Kern and the WPCL staff for all the hard work they do for the community.Mr. Thody remarked that he read an article in the Thursday, Sept. 2 New York Times about Harrisburg wanting to default on their bonds."If this takes place in the capital of Pennsylvania, I think it will send shock waves in this township as well as the country. Can you, the township supervisors, assure that all is well in Chestnuthill?"Township solicitor Joesph McDonald said that the township has two outstanding bonds, one from 2003 and one from 2006, for $3 million dollars each. The township enacted a parameters ordinance in April 2010 which gives its financial company the authority to watch the market and the moment it could realize a savings, it gives them permission to move on it immediately."I can't speak for Harrisburg, but for Chestnuthill, we're doing fine. According to our investor, the township is a sound investment," said McDonald.The coordinators for the Monroe County Youth Field Day, to be held on Saturday, Sept. 18 from 7:15 a.m.-5 p.m. at Camp Trexler in Jonas, asked Chestnuthill Township for financial support. Last year the twp. donated $1,000.Supervisor Dave Fleetwood asked Cathy Martinelli, twp. office manager, if the twp. has reached its limit on budgeted amounts and she said no.The supervisors approved 3-0 to donate $1,000 to the Monroe County Youth Field Day.There continues to be an outside burning ban in effect.There continues to be an outside burning ban in effect.Al Bourke said, "This wood burner ordinance continues to be tabled for some time now. I see they're still selling them in this area. If we wait for the state to make a decision, we'll wait too long."