The Lower Saucon Township Council held its annual organizational meeting on Monday, January 4. That’s a statutory requirement so they rolled the regular meeting into the organizational one.
Not much to report. Mrs. Yerger was re-elected as president. Mr. Banonis was re-elected as Vice President. All the various appointments were made the same as last year.
Mr. Carocci suggested a revised meeting schedule for 2021 that reduced the number of Council meetings to once a month in February, March, June, July, August and November. The others months would all have two meetings, although additional meetings could be reinstated as necessary. The Council adopted the revised schedule by a unanimous vote.
2021 LST Council Meeting Schedule
- January 4 and 20
- February 3
- March 3
- April 7 and 21
- May 5 and 19
- June 16
- July 21
- August 18
- September 1 and 15 – Initial budget proposal on 9/15
- October 6 and 27 – Budget revisions on 10/6, Final proposed budget on 10/27
- November 17
- December 1 and 15 – Budget adoption on 12/1
The Council also had to decide which council people would be liaison to which township boards. I believe it was Mrs. DeLeon who suggested that each of them just keep their current positions. But, just so we weren’t lulled into thinking there had been a change in tone with the new year, Mr. Banonis objected to Mrs. DeLeon continuing on the Landfill Committee, citing the need for a “new start” in the relationship with the landfill owners. Mrs. DeLeon, who has served on the Landfill Committee for more than a decade and therefore has more experience with the landfill’s concerns than any other Council member, opposed her ouster. Mr. Banonis then tried to strong-arm Mrs. Stauffer into taking the position, which he should have known was a non-starter since last year she had turned down a liaison position that required daytime meetings due to her job. Mrs. Yerger also declined because of her job requirements. So who did that leave? Well, Mr. Carocci has been the primary liaison but, if you need a second person, no one’s left but – surprise – Mr. Banonis. Not surprisingly, the final vote on Council liaison positions was 4-1 with Mrs. DeLeon voting no.
Thank you, Mrs. DeLeon, for your lengthy service in keeping Council apprised of what’s happening with the landfill. May your replacement serve with such diligence. We’ll be watching.
General Business Meeting
The general business meeting that followed the organizational meeting was mostly housekeeping – extending the disaster emergency, authorizing the 2020 audit and such-like. There were no minutes to approve from the December 16 meeting because of the Christmas break. It will be interesting to see how they report the 12/16 meeting at the next Council meeting.
So we’re off to the races for 2021. It should be interesting!
Next Township Council Meeting – Wednesday, January 20, 6:30 PM
Next Township Elections – Primary: Tuesday, May 18, 2021. General: Tuesday, November 2, 2021
Saucon Shenanigans 