Harman resigns as township secretary

VALLEY VIEW - Anyone out there seeking employment should consider working for Hegins Township. After Monday evening's meeting of the township supervisors, there are now two positions up for grabs.

Last month the intent to retire of Supervisor Lyle Clark was accepted and this month, Township Secretary Vicki Harman resigned from her position. Harman issued the following statement for her reasons for resigning:

"First off, I want to tell everyone that I loved my job here. I enjoyed talking with the residents and trying to help them with their problems. I say with a broken heart that I am leaving the township. As you know, a few months back the Supervisors wanted to terminate the secretary and treasurer positions and hire a business manager. I say thank you to those who stood up for Vernon and myself but things have gone downhill ever since. In all honesty I cannot condone the current subversions with the way they are running Hegins Township. Taxes will be going up due to wasteful spending of our leaders. They just spent $30,000 on one room. Half of that was for power for the building. It was 3 phase and new transformers were needed. Nevertheless, it is all being billed to the police, not the township because the Supervisors did not do their homework. Just today, I walked in to find that my office was torn apart. Chad said on Friday that they were moving me over to the old meeting room. I asked him to wait until after the meeting Monday night because my back was out and I could not get there on Friday. Once again he sent out his voice of power saying that he was not waiting and he was doing it NOW! After ripping my office apart, it was found that they could not move me yet because it would have affected the police connections. One more time, they did not check into all factors before making a decision. The $8,500 grant that I got for an evidence room was not followed even after making me rewrite it twice and ask for extension. They could not agree on anything and waited until the week before the grant was to run out and then tried to push everything through. Over $3,000 had to be sent back. What a waste. Chad walks around with a chip on his shoulder reminding everyone that he is the BOSS. Well, morale is at an all time low. If you want to get the most out of your employees, you must show them respect.

Relationships have been torn apart in the last year or so. Hopefully they can be mended. Lyle Clark's resignation or "RETIRING" as he calls it is not due entirely to health. He has been heard saying that he sees the direction that the township is headed and he wants no part of it. He cannot stop the others spending. Why can't he grow a backbone and stand up to the others? No, he is just bailing out on the Township. It saddens me to watch this but at least I am not afraid to speak up.

Dig deep into your pockets because taxes will most surely go up and possibly the dismemberment of the Hegins Township Police Department. Residents need to start attending the meetings and showing that you will be keeping an eye on them. Therefore, at this time, I am turning in my resignation, effective immediately. I wish everyone the best."

After Harman read her letter, Clark said, "we accept your resignation and you are dismissed."

Clark asked the supervisors if there were any resumes received for the position of township supervisors. The public has until November 16 to apply for the position. According to Clark, no resumes were received.

In other business, Mary Sauers of Light Heigle and Associates attended the meeting to seek re-appointment as the engineering firm to oversee the UCC codes in the township. Sauers explained that the commercial fees increased one cent per square foot. There has been no increase since 2004.

Supervisor Brad Carl asked several questions concerning the inspectors that Light Heigle sends out. He said local contractors feel they are nit picking. Sauers said it's their job to not approve the inspection if things aren't done correctly. Sauers said if there is an issue the supervisors should contact him to work through the problem.

Police report

Hegins Township Police Chief Steve Lohr said he has noticed an increase in calls last week and for the month of October. He said the call volume has been higher this year then last year at this time of year. He said the police have been providing more coverage at night.

Lohr thanked the supervisors and road crew for their handling of Trick-or-Treat. He also noted that Trunk-or-Treat at Trinity Lutheran's parking lot was a huge success.

"My only disappoint with Trick-or-Treat was the parents walking their kids around," said Lohr. "Everyone was in dark clothes and had no flashlights. It was very hard to see them until you were right on them. Parents need to remember to have their children wear either light clothes or reflective clothes and carry a flashlight."

Lohr reported the police and road crew were on duty for 24 hours and through the peak of Hurricane Sandy. He reported that Hegins Fire Co. had Route 125 north closed for an hour due to a tree on the road. He said there were about 100 customers out of electric service due to transformer fires.

Lohr said the police station will be moving to their new location this Friday. The police station will now be located in the north garage on the east side of the township property. The supervisors said they will place signs directing the public where the police station is located.

Lohr also noted that zoning code officer Francis Petrovich will be working on citations for violations this week.

Act 537

Although the township supervisors had no further information to report, Hegins resident Ralph Wetzel had questions and concerns for the supervisors. See his remarks on the editorial page four of today's Citizen-Standard.

Hunter's Mountain

Jeff Kline asked the supervisors what the status of the Hunter's Mountain water runoff issue was. He said he hasn't heard or seen anything in a while and he was fearful with the latest storm that came through. Supervisor Clark said he believes that is still in negotiations with the developers. Supervisor Richards said he will work on that this month and have an answer for Kline at the December meeting of the supervisors.

Correspondence

Supervisor Carl reported the Masonic Lodge held a lobster dinner last month to benefit the Tri-Valley Community Pool. He said the Masons raised over $3,400 and are planning to help pay for an ADA lift chair that is required for next season at the pool. Carl said the chair they are looking at is the same as the Millersburg Pool installed and the cost is approximately $3,775. Carl said he was also told that David A. Lucas will be conducting two pizza sales for the pool also.

Dates to remember

Food pantry will be held November 21, beginning at 8 a.m. at the township building located on Gap Street in Valley View.

The next meeting of the Hegins Township Supervisors will be held Monday, Dec. 3, at 7 p.m. at the Hegins Area Ambulance Building, located directly across the street from the township property on Gap Street.

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