Windham Twp. – Windham Township Trustees met recently with all trustees, fiscal officer and zoning inspector in attendance. The meeting was called to order by Fiscal Officer Casey Timmons, because the chairman of the board had not been determined before the new year. Brian Miller nominated Danny Burns as chairman of the board, with Rich Gano seconding the motion. A vote was taken, the motion carried. Mr. Burns took over running the meeting. Gano nominated Brian Miller as the Vice chairman, Burns seconded the motion, the motion carried. The same protocol was done to fill the positions that are done yearly. Regional planning representative, Rich Gano, with the zoning inspector Joe Pinti as alternate, fire board representative Brian Miller, roads contact, Brian Miller, cemetery contact, Rich Gano, legal counsel, the county prosecutor, records retention committee is the chairman of the board, and fiscal officer. They approved the IRS allowable rate for mileage reimbursement for the year at $.56/ mile. The board approved paying $1418.16 for regional planning dues for the year 2021. The board approved the sale of unused older equipment, once they inventory what they have.
The minutes and expenditures were approved for the month of December.
In roads, Miller said, the guys were called out on Christmas Eve and Day and did a wonderful job keeping the roads cleared. A recall on the F-350 dump truck was completed. They also did some routine maintenance on the truck. Miller stated that the township received six letters of thanks for the senior COVID packages and several phone calls on the same issue.
In cemetery news, Gano said, the guys were looking to top the pillars that have some structural issues. They plan on leveling off the tops so flowers planters, etc. can be placed on them during the growing season. Gano also reported that stones are being dropped off and the sale of cemetery plots isincreasing.
In zoning, Pinti said, he wrote three permits for the month of December, two for new construction, and one mylar for a land plan. Pinti said, he met with a State Route 303 resident about a home- based business. Pinti presented the zoning inspectors summary for 2020. He wrote 10 mylars, (5 for land splits and 5 for land consolidation) one agriculture permit, four new construction permits, and three accessory buildings. Pinti said, he was organizing all the zoning records and will have them moved to the town hall’s secure room. He also stated that he was using the town hall for meeting residents with zoning issues. There have been a few zoning hearings held [and one] and they hope to finish soon. The delay has been COVID and one member out of town a lot for their job.
In the WFVD report, Gano reported, there were 695 calls for the 2020 year, up from 585 in 2019. The re-boxed ambulance should be back by the end of January. Truck 2811 had a $2,000 repair for the month of December and he reported he had a few of the members out with COVID.
Gano stated that he thinks he could redo the website. He thought he could get a template from GoDaddy to change up the current site. He would do the design and updates instead of paying someone to do it. The township has struggled to find a reliable person to maintain it and keep it updated for reasonable cost, so the board agreed to let Gano do it.
The board discussed raises for various positions. They raised zoning commission representatives and board of zoning appeals (BZA) members to $20/ meeting, with the chairmen getting $30/ meeting. The zoning inspector will go from $450 a month to $500 and the secretary of the BZA will be increased to $25/ hour. They increased the insurance allowance for their two employees by $500 a year. They tabled the increase of the sexton’s salary, employee wage increases and sick pay roll over. Some of these raises need to have some research done before setting a new rate. These will be addressed at the February meeting. There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.
