Sadsbury Township Supervisors held a reorganization meeting, as is required by law, on the first Monday of the year.

However, unlike other years when everything remained basically the same, supervisors made two rather significant changes.

The first of which was when Roy Whaley, who served for more than five years as the chairman, nominated Kevin VanHonk to step into his position as Chairman of the Board of Sadsbury Township Supervisors. The motion was seconded, carried and the meeting was then officially turned over to VanHonk, with Whaley serving in the co-chair seat.

The second big change for Sadsbury is the time of day when the monthly meetings will be held. For many years, supervisors have met at 6:30 PM on the second Tuesday of each month. After a discussion and some pros and cons being bantered about, a decision was made to hold the monthly meetings at 1:30. The day of the month will not change.

Saving money was a reason that was cited for the change, as some of the employees get paid overtime for attending after hours. Also, Whaley and VanHonk mentioned the cost of the utility bills and other factors that led them to propose the change.

R. Charles Thomas, who was retained again by the township as solicitor, was consulted about the time change. He said that he sometimes has court dates that would prevent him from physically attending in the afternoon.

It is not necessary, by law, for a solicitor to attend the township meetings but, R. Charles advised against carrying on without him. Supervisors decided that anything of a legal nature that they were not qualified to handle, would be held over until such time that R. Charles could attend.

Rose Mumau, who will remain in her position as Sadsbury Township Secretary/Treasurer, was for the change but had one or two observations. She said that some of the public might object since they might not be able to be released from work if they had a need to attend.

Whaley mentioned that, for the most part, the township building is empty during the nightly meetings as not many residents participate these days. He said the meetings used to be well attended but that is not the case as of late.

Another point brought forward by Mumau was that during the summer, for instance, township citizens flow in and out throughout the day, and that might pose a problem. Putting a sign up stating that a meeting was taking place was an idea that surfaced during the discussion.

Whaley essentially went around the room and asked the re-appointed Zoning Officer, Paul Roiz, the appointed Road Master, Dave Hubbard, and others on the board, what their thoughts were on the matter.

Roiz and Hubbard were totally fine with the time change, with Roiz stating that it was something he had always been totally behind. He indicated that he was totally on board and had no objections whatsoever. Hubbard just mentioned that during heavy snow days there might be an issue but, other than that, he was OK with it as well.

Whaley had pointed out when he first broached the subject, that they are always looking for ways to save some taxpayer money and they came to the conclusion that holding the meetings in the afternoon would have some kind of positive effect in terms of cutting costs.

Some folks, who are retired, and others, who cannot see too well at night to drive to the meetings, might welcome this change. This is according to some citizens who were asked for opinions on the matter after the meeting. Others, who were asked for their views, said that some residents might be upset because work restrictions would prevent them from going to an afternoon meeting.

However, as Whaley pointed out earlier, the meetings are often held with only the board, Hubbard, Roiz and a reporter in attendance.

As was mentioned above, after weighing in on the good points and the bad, a motion was made, seconded and carried in order to move the time of the meetings to the afternoon slot.

Sadsbury employees will see a 3% raise in their paychecks, in 2011, effective in the first pay period of the year. Last year there was a freeze on raises but the board voted for the 3% raise unanimously during the reorganization assembly.

In addition to the raise, the full time employees, working 40 hours a week, will be granted the following benefits:

The township will pay 100% for: health and dental insurance for employees and their dependents; pension plan; disability insurance and life insurance

Full time employees will receive the following days off with pay: ten paid holidays per year (New Year's Day, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and four floating holidays); 5 sick days, 40 hours, per year, (a maximum of 5 sick days, 40 hours, are permitted to carry into the following year, not to accumulate more than 10 days, 80 hours); 10 vacation days, 80 hours per year, (must be used in current year); 3 days bereavement leave for employee's immediate family members such as spouse, parents, children, siblings and grandparents, with the same condition for their spouse's family.

New employees must work a full year before eligibility for paid vacation and will accumulate one day sick leave for every 2½ months worked until they reach one year of employment and then will be eligible for 5 sick days.

Employees will be reimbursed for mileage expense at the current IRS standard business mileage rate, (as amended from time to time), when necessary to use their personal vehicle for township business. The current rate is 51 cents per mile.

A slight adjustment was made in terms of the hourly rental fees for various pieces of township equipment.

After looking over the prices, Hubbard said that they seemed a bit low compared to what some charge. So, the board decided to increase the rentals by $10 each to be more inline with the going rate.

The prices are as follows: Trucks, $65; Grader, $95; Back Hoe, $85; Loader, $90; John Deere #6430, $100 and the Mack Truck, $80. The hourly rates include the equipment operator.

Moving along to some other appointments that were made, Don Ellis, who was not in attendance during the meeting, will also serve in the capacity of Sadsbury Township Supervisor.

Supervisors voted to retain Hill Engineering Inc. as the engineer for the township. As for the clerk for the Planning Commission, Zoning Hearing Board, and Board of Supervisors, Caitlin Scott was re-appointed.

The Delegates to French Creek Council of Governments will be Roy Whaley with Kevin VanHonk as the alternate delegate.

Harry (Skip) Leonhard and Dio Yost were re-appointed as members of the Sadsbury Township Planning Commission for a term of 4 years, expiring on December 31, 2014.

The following will serve on the Zoning Hearing Board as either members, alternate members and solicitor: Lyle Hoovler for a three year term, expiring on December 31, 2013; Vicki Leap and Carol Kingzett as alternates for a term of one year and Harry White will be retained as legal counsel.

Middle Department Inspection Agency, (MDIA), was appointed as the Sadsbury Township Code Enforcement Agency, as they had been in the past.

Dan Petruso, of B.J. Petruso Insurance, went over the township policy as he does every January as well as in other months during the year.

The good news is that the total premium went down, other than the Worker's Comp portion.

There was a discussion about reviewing the equipment and detailing exactly what the township had in the maintenance shop, for example, and Petruso is going to come out to the facility and take part in a walk through in order to assist in any way possible.

He emphasized the importance of knowing exactly what the township had on hand and mentioned taking photos as well.

In order to keep track of everything, pictures will be taken and an inventory will also unfold. Whaley said that during the winter months after the plowing is done, etc., it would be a perfect time to compose a list of all items.

A good way to save 5% on the Worker's Comp would be to assemble a safety committee, which would consist of one person from each fire department, an employee of the township and a supervisor. Summit has done this for quite some time, with their safety meetings taking place directly before the regular monthly gatherings.

After so many months of holding safety meetings, the township sends paperwork off to Labor and Industry and they then find out if they qualify to get the 5% discount. In the case of Sadsbury, the 5% would amount to $1,000 for a year.

The safety meetings don't stop when they are approved for the discount as they must continue in order to take advantage of the deal.

Sadsbury is going to seriously consider this, and Petruso is going to email them the particulars so that they might get the ball rolling as soon as possible.

VanHonk mentioned that they would be attending installation dinners very soon and would try to get some volunteers to be involved in the endeavor.

In other news, Whaley asked Mumau about the secretary reports for the meetings. He wanted to know how detailed they had to be. For example, he asked if they had to mention by name who said what and when.

Mumau said that the basic requirements were recording when the meeting was called to order, listing who was in attendance and writing down motions that were made.

Whaley said that was all the information he required but did not indicate why he had asked the question.

Roiz reported that he had heard from Jack Moyers, of the Board of Trustees of Conneaut Lake Park, concerning a dilapidated structure in the park. This had been brought to light at other meetings and the bottom line was that Moyers will do as asked in terms of getting the building in acceptable condition. Roiz is going to keep an eye on the situation.

As far as news from the Road Master, snow was the main topic as Hubbard imparted that the crew had worked several 15 hour days during the winter blast in December.

Other than that, he reported that the equipment is in good shape and is ready to take on the rest of the cold months ahead.

The next regular meeting of the Sadsbury Township Supervisors will take place at the new time of 1:30 PM on Tuesday, February 8. The meetings are held at the township building on 285. Residents are encouraged and invited to attend.