PALMYRA TOWNSHIP – WAYNE COUNTY JANUARY 4, 2021

Chairman Steffen called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM. Roll call of the Supervisors showed that Chairman Steffen, Supervisor Ha nf and Supervisor Kmetz were all present. Supervisor Kmetz made a motion to accept the previous month’s minutes as written with one correction under the Road Report change Firmstone Oil Company to Highhouse Oil Company with a second by Supervisor H anf and all Supervisors voting yes.

Treasurer’s Report was given by Ms. Powderly and is on file as well as posted on the back wall. Chairman Steffen made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report with a second by Supervisor Hanf and all Supervisors voting yes.

Chairman Steffen made a motion to give Ms. Powderly a $350.00 stipend for the year 2020 with a second by Supervisor Kmetz and all Supervisors voting yes.

Chairman Steffen made a motion to donate $6,000.00 to the Hawley Ambulance, $5,000.00 to the Hawley Fire Department and $4,000.00 to the Hawley Police Department with a second by Supervisor Hanf and all Supervisors voting yes.

The bills were read and are on file as well as posted on the back wall. Chairman Steffen made a motion to pay the bills as well as to add the donation checks totaling $15,000.00 to the bill list with a second by Supervisor Kmetz and all Supervisors voting yes.

Police Report was given by Officer Bertholf and is on file.

Fire Report is on file.

Ambulance Report was given by Jeff Phys. He stated that the Hawley Ambulance w ill be changing their name.

Road Report was given by Road Master Kmetz and is on file.

Correspondence - The Township received its normal newsletters, pamphlets, brochures and magazines that are posted on the back wall. The township received notification from Penn Dot that they are contracting with 3 different firms to collect traffic data on municipal roads .

Zoning Report was given by Paul Natale.

Public Comment - None

Emergency Management - Supervisor Hanf stated there was nothing to report.

Crime Report - Supervisor Kmetz stated there was nothing to report.

Solicitor’s Report - Mr. Treat was unable to attend this meeting.

With no outstanding business left for the year 2020 Chairman Steffen dissolved the 2020 Board of Supervisors at 6:4 4 PM.

The first order of New Business for 2021 is to reorganize the Board of Supervisors. With that being said, Supervisor Hanf nominated Peter Steffen as Chairman of the Board with a second by Supervisor Kmetz and Supervisors Kmetz and Hanf voting yes and Chairman Steffen abstaining.

Chairman Steffen stated that he will read the entire list of appointments and at the end make a motion to accept all nominees.

Chairman Steffen nominated :

• Supervisor Hanf as Vice Chairman.
• Lois Powderly as Secretary/Treasurer and Right-To-Know Officer at a rate of $ 17.40 per hour.
• Joseph Kmetz as Road Master.
• Assistant Road Masters Peter Steffen and Michael Hanf.
• Office Helper as needed.
• Solicitor Jeffrey Treat at the rate of $175.00 per meeting and $100.00 per hour for additional work.
• Gary Van Orden as Vacancy Board Chairman.
• Kiley Associates as Engineer with Keystone Consulting as an alternate.
• Paul Natale as Zoning Officer at rate of $ 14.00 per hour.
• Building Code Enforcement will Northeast Inspection Consultants.
• Christopher Martin as Sewage Enforcement Officer and Leroy Finlon as his alternate.
• Equipment Main tenance will be the Hawley Garage, Kuzimaic’s Garage, Gary’s and Bill Carson.
• Independent contracted services will be Carson Excavating.
• Depositories are the Dime Bank , PNC Bank and PLGIT.
• Michael Hanf as Emergency Management Coordinator.
• Planning Commission members will be Paul Natale and Joseph Kmetz who terms will run until the end of 2023, Louis Gruber who term run s until the end of 2026 , and Andrea Whyte to serve until the end of 2024 and all subsequent terms will be for a period of 6 years.
• Newspaper of record will be the Tri County Independent.
• Zoning Hearing Board members will be Robert Hochrieter term expires 12/31/ 23 , Cyndy Kielar term expires 12/31/ 22 , and James Gibbons whose term expires on 12/31/24.
• Appeals Board members are Casey Warnott, Rich Hilriegle, Dan Shariest, and Matt George.
• Sewer Authority Representative will be Joseph Kmetz and Independent Contractor of Record will Carson Excavating.
• All township meetings will be held on the first Monday of every month at 6:30 PM with the exception of September which will be held on Tuesday September 7, 2021 in observance of Labor Day .
• Supervisor Kmetz made a motion to increase Noah Conrad’s wage from $1 3 .00 an hour to $1 4 .00 and to accept the nominations, approve the Board and meeting changes as well as the pay raise for Ms. Powderly with a second by Supervisor H anf and all Supervisors voting yes.

Public Comment - None

Ambulance - Chairman Steffen stated that the township had received a letter from Attorney Waldron who represents Palmyra Township- Pike County in regards to Tafton Ambulance responding to calls within Palmyra Township-Wayne County. The letter stated effective January 1, 2021 Palmyra Township-Pike County will start billing our municipality for calls made by Tafton Ambulance into your municipality at the rate of $500.00 per call in addition, there will be a charge of $300.00 in that event that: 1) The Tafton Ambulance responds to a call within our municipality but is turned back before they reach the call site; or 2) Tafton Ambulance responds to a call for a lift assist. The letter also stated that if your municipality does not wish to pay the fee s please confirm so in writing by February 1, 2021. Chairman Steffen went on to say I think it is well outside what is in their license if they are not going to respond if we don’t pay, I don’t know that they can do that. He read aloud from the Pennsylvania Township Code, 1027.3, referring to obligations to provide EMS coverage which states the EMS agency must respond to a dispatch if they are able to do so and may not refuse to respond to a dispatch based on the desire to keep a crew or unit in reserve for other calls that may come in .

Chairman Steffen made a motion to have Solicitor Treat send a letter to Palmyra Township-Pike County stating that Palmyra Township-Wayne County declines your demand for payments with a second by Supervisor Hanf and all Supervisors voting yes.

Next scheduled meeting is February 1 , 2021 at 6:30 PM.