Monday evening Penn Forest Township board of supervisors approved its 2017 budget, and for yet another year the township is not imposing a local municipal tax on residents. The township will end 2016 with $1.3 million in certificates of deposit and $5.3 million in general, capital and other operating funds.

The budget set forth for 2017 projects expenditures of $1.9 million and revenue at $2.5 million, leaving the township with an additional surplus greater than a half million by year’s end.Also on the agenda was the approval of a new three-year contract with the township’s union employees. The contract was approved pending review by the township’s labor attorney.The supervisors also approved a $1,700 purchase of an Automated External Defibrillator. Supervisors Warren Reiner, Scott Lignore and Roger Meckes voted in favor of the purchase.“This could end up being the best $1,700 we ever spend,” Meckes said. “It is the most important thing to have if someone is having a heart attack.”“Even if we need some training, we get training,” Lignore said. “I think it is important.”Supervisor Christine Fazio voted against the purchase of the AED.“This is what we have fire companies and EMTs for,” Fazio said. “There are some conditions where it shouldn’t be used. I don’t think we should make that call.”Supervisor Judy Knappenberger wasn’t present to vote.The contractor has completed Phase II of the park project with the exception of the bleachers, which will be installed in the spring.“The contractor removed the last of his equipment today,” Reiner said. “This contractor did a great job and was easy to work with. They cleaned up everything before they left. They even raked up the area.”Lignore made a motion to hire Jeff Schwartz on a contract not to exceed $2,900 to complete the plans for the concession stand, pavilion and bathrooms. The motion passed. It is expected that the township will put the project out for bids sometime this winter.Resident William Miller asked the supervisors why the gate to the transfer station is being left open on days that the transfer station is supposed to be closed.Miller said he drove by last Thursday and the gate was open and no one appeared to be there, but he did observe an old pickup leaving the through the gate.“I have to pay for a punch card and I have to go there when it’s open,” Miller said. “So why is the gate open and people going in when it’s supposed to be closed?”Reiner explained that the township has been receiving deliveries of anti-skid and other materials and he doesn’t have employees who can sit around waiting for the trucks to arrive.Miller was upset that people might be leaving their refuse without being entitled to.Reiner said he agreed with Miller’s concern but said, “I would rather someone cheated a little and left the garbage at the station than along the side of the road where we have to pick it up.”