L. Towamensing OKs employee handbook changes

Lower Towamensing Township employees are set to see a change in when they are eligible for vacation, and short-and-long-term disability.

Supervisors on Monday morning approved a set of handbook changes which makes employees eligible for vacation after their first full year on the job.

According to Supervisor Ron Walbert, the issue of when vacation was accrued came up with a former employee, and the township sought Monday to better define the time period.

“I think one year is the way it is negotiated in most labor contracts,” Walbert said.

The probationary period for employees was changed from 90 days to six months. After six months, employees are now eligible for short- and long-term disability benefits.

Also on Monday, the township hired Brandon Gehringer to its road crew with a starting wage of $17.50 per hour.

“He came in to try out the equipment and we thought he was a good fit,” Supervisor Brent Green said. “He had the qualifications we are looking for.”

Green said Gehringer has his CDL license, which gave him a leg up for the position.

In the only other official action Monday, supervisors approved the purchase of topsoil, matting and a filter sock for a project at the Aquashicola playground.

Supervisors authorized up to $10,000 for the expenditure.

As of Monday, the best quote for topsoil came from Green Pond Nursery, Green said.

Before Monday’s meeting, supervisors held a budget workshop with documents showing taxes would again stay level in the township.

Lower Towamensing’s property tax, which hasn’t changed in several years, is at 1.6 mills, while its fire tax would stay level at 0.5 mills.

Proposed revenues for 2019 are pegged at $1.6 million with expenditures at $1.2 million.

The township will get estimates on offering life and health insurance for its employees.

“We haven’t had a lot of full-time employees, so it never really warranted looking into it,” Green said.

Earned income tax revenues have increased this year. The township budgeted $310,000, with the actual numbers coming in at $398,000.

“Either people are getting big raises or more people are working,” Green said.

Supervisors discussed advertising for an assistant secretary and a code enforcement officer/assistant zoning officer.

The code officer, they said, would work on an as-needed basis.

With between $80,000 and $90,000 in delinquent garbage payments owed to the township, supervisors discussed having an agency such as Portnoff Law Associates attempt to collect that money.

“That’s a lot of money. That could be a truck purchase right there,” Walbert said.