Magisterial district judge Paul Keeler, far right, swears in newly-elected supervisor Donald Snyder. Next to him are his son, Donnie, left, and wife Daria.
Ben Freda | For Abington Journal
SOUTH ABINGTON TWP. — During December’s South Abington Township meeting Dec. 13, magisterial district judge Paul Keeler officially swore in newly-elected supervisor Donald Snyder.
Snyder was sworn in during the August supervisors’ meeting as a temporary replacement of former supervisor Joseph Sproul. He will officially begin his term in January.
Secretary Jo Ann Pane announced that the supervisors held a special meeting in the township building on Nov. 18 to discuss the 2022 tentative budget. During public comment, South Abington resident Damian Leone proposed a historical marker with a history of Onaquaga Path. He said that the path ran from Leggetts Creek to South Abington Township. He mentioned that it connected the Iroquois Indians with the Delaware nation of Indians. He said that the last Indians in Scranton and the Tuscarora tribe used it to flee to the Carolinas. “There’s a lot of little things that we think make it historical, and a lot of people don’t know about it,” he said.
Leone told the supervisors that the historical society has a year-and-a-half to put an application and do some more research.
He said that a proposal site with pictures is required to place the sign. Supervisor Mark Dougherty suggested to Leone to talk with the parks and rec committee about placing the marker in the park. He told him to select a site, take pictures, and ask the supervisors to be in the agenda for a future supervisors’ meeting.
Supervisor Giles Stanton asked Leone where he received the information about the path. Leone replied that he read old books at the library. He said that someone mapped all of the Native American trails in Pennsylvania for the historical society in 1981. Also, Leone gave Stanton a map of the original land grants of the Abingtons, including Stanton’s ancestors.
In other business, the supervisors voted to approve the tentative budget with no tax increase.
They then voted to approve Resolution 2021-12, which approves the tax millage of 2022. Also, the supervisors voted to approve the police contract with Ransom Township police. Township engineer David O’Neill said that Ransom Township is increasing their dollar amount from $80,000 to $90,000.
Also, O’Neill announced that he received the workers’ compensation proposal. He said that the experience modification rate (EMR) rose from 1.04 to 1.26. He said that two people this year had claims of over $70,000, He said that there were numerous small claims as well. He said that last year’s workers’ compensation totaled $111,000. He said that it is $133,000 this year. The supervisors voted to approve the workers’ compensation expenditure of $133,000. Solicitor Bill Jones said that they will ratify it during the reorganization meeting in January.
In other business,
• The supervisors decided to reconvene the meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 29, at noon.
• The supervisors decided to hold the reorganization meeting on Monday, Jan. 3, at 6:30 p.m.
