North Wales Borough Seeks to Fill Municipal Volunteer Vacancies

Dan Sokil | The Reporter•

A sign indicating how to sign up for the “Savvy Citizen” app stands outside North Wales Borough Hall on Tuesday, July 25, 2023.

Borough officials have ended the year with a call for volunteers.

North Wales council accepted the resignations of two longtime volunteers on Tuesday night, while eyeing a list of ten or more vacancies they’ll need to fill in the new year.

"I think this is something we really need to look at, and focus on, next year,” said councilwoman Anji Fazio.

Each month council typically sees a list of vacant posts on various borough boards and commissions, with some vacancies lasting months or longer due to a lack of residents interested in filling that position. Tuesday night’s year-end meeting brought two more vacancies, both accepted unanimously and with thanks and regret from council, and talks on how to fill those new empty posts and the other outstanding ones.

Stepping down from the borough’s planning commission is longtime member Greta Martin Washington, a former councilwoman who has also put in over a decade on the planning commission, providing feedback and vetting on various land development projects as well as big-picture initiatives like the town’s recent zoning map update and revised comprehensive plan.

"She has served two different tours of duty, and just been a great resource, not only because of her engineering background, but because of her work experience in other jurisdictions, and interactions with other places. She brought a lot to the table, and she’ll be missed,” said planning commission member and former Mayor Greg D’Angelo, who said he served on that board alongside Martin Washington for at least 14 years.

"She’s an engineer, so she had a wealth of technical knowledge when it comes to planning, and the questions she brings forth are really detailed. I think we’re gonna miss that. She always asked very specific, pointed questions — she really does know her stuff,” added councilman Mark Tarlecki.

In a letter to council, Martin Washington said she was grateful for the chance to serve, "and am proud of the work Planning Commission has done to fulfill the objectives of our comprehensive plan, including needed updates to the zoning ordinance. I love this borough and my neighbors. It has been an honor to serve North Wales in this capacity.”

Council voted unanimously to accept her resignation, effective Dec. 31, and council President Sal Amato added "with our heartfelt thanks to Greta” along with the approval. The group then made a similar motion to accept the resignation of resident Gregory Lord from the town’s zoning hearing board, and borough Manager Christine Hart said Lord had not submitted a formal letter, but conveyed in conversation that he’s no longer able to serve.

"Those are two big shoes we have to fill, which is a shame,” Amato said, before council unanimously accepted that resignation.

One new member was appointed to a volunteer post: resident Jamie Sharkey was appointed to a term running through 2025 on the town’s civil service commission, which Hart said has "been vacant for quite some time.”

"They typically only meet if there is some type of disciplinary action, and/or change in police bylaws or procedures. Earlier this year, they did convene for an emergency hiring recommendation, but they’ve probably met less than a handful of times in my eight years” as manager, she said.

Certain police hiring processes such as required testing used to be overseen at the local level by that commission, but is now done through a consortium of municipalities across the county, the manager added, "so typically they’re not doing the testing or interviewing anymore.” Sharkey’s letter to council said he has been a police officer for 25 years, mostly in a nearby municipality, and after his appointment was approved unanimously, Hart said that board will likely have one more seat to fill in 2024.

The manager then asked for feedback from council on that growing vacancy list, which now numbers a total of nine empty seats across six different volunteer boards after the resignations of Lord and Martin Washington. Staff have been in contact with volunteers whose current terms expire at the end of 2023, and depending on interest could bring back reappointments in early 2024, or be faced with more empty seats to fill.

"We’ve only had one person so far that cannot continue, but we always like to put this out there, if somebody has been waiting or is interested,” Hart said.

Fazio asked if staff could post the vacancies on the town’s Facebook page, Instagram account and Savvy Citizen notification system, with info about what each board or commission does, and the manager said she and staff could do so. Councilman Sherwin Collins asked if a similar message could be posted on the borough’s info kiosk on Walnut Street near the Tex Mex Connection restaurant, and Hart said that kiosk has limited lettering, but the borough has gotten applicants before from posting smaller signs in borough parks.

Amato asked if council’s current chart of vacant seats and their terms could also have info about how many members are currently on each board, and how many total seats, and Hart said she’d update the list and report back to council in early 2024.

Vacant seats after the latest departures and appointment include three open spots on the town’s human relations commission, running through 2024, 2025 and 2026 respectively; one each on the Historical Architectural Review Board (must be a licensed real estate broker) and on the Nor-Gwyn Pool Commission running through 2028, one on the planning commission running through 2024 and two on the zoning board, running through 2025 and 2027 respectively, with more possible in early 2024 depending on reappointments. Anyone interested in serving in any of those positions can contact Hart with a letter of interest and resume by emailing [email protected] or at 300 School Street, North Wales PA, 19454.

2024 Budget Approved

Council also voted unanimously on Tuesday night to approve the town’s 2024 tax millage ordinance, including a one-mill tax hike. In November the group approved the budget itself, after a lengthy series of presentations from Hart outlining the roughly $9.4 million in planned expenses and revenues, and the impact for the town’s average property assessed at just over $126,000. That resident’s tax bill at the current 6.0 mill tax level yields an annual bill of roughly $759, or roughly $63 per month, and increasing that level by 1 mill to 7.0 mills will raise that resident’s bill to just over $885 or $73 a month.

The ordinance was approved unanimously with no additional discussion, as was the town’s fee schedule for 2024, which Hart said had no changes from the year before. Council also unanimously approved their 2024 meeting and holiday schedules, with details available in council’s meeting materials packet.

North Wales borough council next meets at 7 p.m. on Jan. 2, 2024, at the borough municipal building, 300 School Street; for more information visit www.NorthWalesBorough.org.

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