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The West Lebanon Township Board of Commissioners unanimously agreed to pay $584 for the township’s annual Knox Box fee at its meeting Monday.
Speedwell Fire Company requested the township pay the annual fee for the emergency key storage in addition to the reimbursement of $4,058 for the box’s purchase.
Commissioner Michelle Testerman, who is also involved in Speedwell, said that while she was not in support of reimbursing for a box that has already been installed and paid for by the fire company, she believed it was best to pay for the annual fee, especially as “it’s a community service.”
The Knox Box allows the fire department to quickly obtain keys to 31 local entities (including businesses, rental buildings, and churches) in case of emergency. While these entities pay an annual fee of $20, secretary Antoinette Issis said, this barely covers administrative costs.
If the township wants to pay the $584 Knox Box fee, she said, it will come out of taxpayer money unless they increase the fee for businesses, churches, and apartment buildings. Commissioners agreed to revisit a fee increase at a future meeting after determining what increase would be required, as well as checking when the fee was last increased.
After some discussion, the board also unanimously agreed to adopt Resolution 2024-#9 removing a sentence requiring board members to disclose their reasons for voting against an action item.
This comes after commissioner Joseph Templin voted against moving forward a ban on parking on part of North 25th Street in August (though he would later vote to adopt the parking ban). When pressed by commissioner Phylis Dryden for his reasoning, Templin at first said it was “[his] prerogative,” which Testerman said counted as his reasoning.
Read More: West Lebanon Township to consider parking ban on North 25th Street (August)
Testerman requested that the township look into whether they were legally bound to this policy.
Monday, solicitor Paul Bametzreider notified the board that while there is no legal requirement for this policy, the township is entitled to set its own policies for board proceedings. However, he added that it is usually in commissioners’ best interests to be transparent.
“There’s nothing that says you have to,” said Bametzreider, adding that “you’re representing constituents so you should be responsive.”
Dryden, who attended Monday’s meeting via phone call, said that in her research she found that it is considered “best practices” for government officials to answer questions from the public.
While Dryden pushed for a slight rewording of the sentence in the policy, she — and all other commissioners — ultimately voted to remove the sentence entirely.
In other news, the board:
- Tabled action on an ordinance establishing a non-uniform pension plan.
- Unanimously agreed to adopt a resolution updating the certification requirements of the employee handbook to require that employees who the township pays to certify must stay at least a year, or they need to reimburse the township for certification costs.
- Heard and accepted reports.
- Unanimously approved the Sept. 3 meeting minutes.
- Heard a resident requesting the township place stop signs in alleys, which the board agreed to look into further.
West Lebanon Township Board of Commissioners meets the first Monday of each month at 322 N. 22nd St. Meetings are open to the public and do not require prior registration.
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