The Lower Towamensing Township supervisors addressed the following issues at their meeting last week:

• Township supervisors received a number of applications for the secretary-treasurer position for the township. The supervisors were scheduled to hold an executive session after the township meeting to discuss the applications, as they need to fill the vacancy as soon as possible.

• Several residents were concerned that their garbage was not being picked up. The issue was that a substitute driver for the garbage collection company, Advanced Disposal Services, missed a number of homes while trying to follow one of the routes for collection.

Vice Chairman Jay Mullikin advised that they spoke to the company and the issue should be corrected now. Mullikin reminded residents that they should only have one large trash tote out per week. Advanced Disposal indicated they will begin paying attention to the number of trash cans being placed for pickup. At present, there is not an extra charge for the extra cans, but that could change.

• A motion was made to remove former secretary Christine Wentz as a signer of checks, and make the three supervisors the signers of checks until the new secretary-treasurer is hired.

Township officials reached out to Mauch Chunk Trust Co. regarding a trust fund set up. The fee would be $325 to $375/month for up to 40 checks per month. Minimum balance to be kept in the account would be $100,000. The township’s bills would be approved at the monthly supervisors meeting, and the list would be sent to MCTC, which would take care of paying the bills for the township.

The former petty cash account has been zeroed out and will be closed. According to Mullikin, it had been suggested in the past that money from petty cash had been stolen, but he emphasized that that was not the case.

Instead of using petty cash, Chairman Brent Green recommended moving ahead and setting up gas cards from Wex Fleet cards that could only be used for gasoline for employees to use for township vehicles. Green plans to apply for the cards right away so as to have them on hand for the winter.

• A motion was made to begin the process of advertising for the passing of an ordinance to adopt the new codification of the township zoning ordinances. The books are ready to be printed, and advertising for the codification is the next step.

• Township officials plan to meet soon to finalize the changes to the new budget. The changes that would need to be done include the elimination of the recreation account, a potential 2% raise for township employees, changing the amount for truck replacement and acquisition from $50,000 to $100,000, and to make a correction to the secretary-treasurer’s salary. Officials will need a motion to advertise the changes to the budget, and will do that at a later date.

• Green indicated that upgrades are needed to the security system at the municipal building, which is currently the same system as was installed in 1999 when the building was built, and a possible upgrade to a key fob system for the recreation center. This will be discussed further at a later meeting.

• The township currently has five trucks in its fleet: three single-axles, one pickup, and one Ford F-550. The 550 needs repairs to its ABS system and new brake shoes. The brake shoes will be done in house, but the ABS will need to be repaired. The supervisors approved spending up to $2,000 to fix the ABS system in order to have the truck ready for the winter.

• Supervisors went into an executive session after the main meeting to discuss personnel matters.