(1/14) The Liberty Township supervisors stated at their January meeting that they intend to review the municipality’s junkyard ordinance at their February meeting to take into account the actual costs of continued inspections, as well as to address other issues.
The supervisors denied a permit application for a junkyard located at 245 Waynesboro Pike on the grounds that the application was not filled-in property. Chairman Walter Barlow stated the paperwork has been returned to the applicant to be properly completed.
The permit application was intended to replace an expired one. However, a re-filing may find the applicant facing new fees, and possibly other requirements.
Barlow stated that the municipality will be seeking to revise the junkyard ordinance at the next board-meeting, which could include increasing the junkyard application fee from $100 to $1,000. The supervisor stated the reasoning behind the proposed fee-increase was due to the costs of inspecting junkyards that the township has experienced in the recent past.
The chairman also noted that the revision may include the right to deny a permit if a junkyard has had prior violations during the past three years.
Chief Sherri Hansen reported that in spite of the order having been mishandled by the vender, township police are finally be receiving body cameras for use while on-duty,
"I was able to speak with somebody from WatchGuard, other than the guy who sold me the bodycams," Chief Hansen said, adding, "There was a ‘miscommunication’ on their end about the order – in other words, they never really placed the order."
The chief said the order has definitely been placed now, and WatchGuard is honoring the price that was expiring on December 31. "The guy called me at seven o’clock at night and apologized profusely for everything and threw-in a couple of extras."
Hansen said the body cameras should arrive as soon as they can be shipped by the provider.
In other business … the supervisors conducted their annual, first-of-the-year re-organization.
Barlow was re-appointed as the board’s chairman, with Bob Jackson re-appointed as the vice-chairman. Wendy Peck was re-appointed as the secretary and treasurer at an hourly-rate of $21.66, while Jessica Ilko was appointed as the alternate-secretary and treasurer.
John Lisko was re-appointed as the township solicitor. The supervisors set the part-time police officer pay-rate at $22.00 per-hour (Officer Chris Roosen only). and established the pay-rate for the police chief at $28.61 per-hour.
Barlow was also appointed as the township roadmaster, with Bobby Keiholtz, Bruce Pecher, and Kim Valentine appointed as part-time road-crews.
Regarding board and commission appointments, Donna Powers was appointed to a two-year term on the township Zoning Hearing Board, while Barb Ruppert, Horst Stehmer, and John Hutzell were appointed to four-year terms on the Planning Commission. Ruppert’s appointment represented a re-appointment.
