The Towamencin Government Study Commission, which is investigating a change of the township’s constitution to Home Rule Charter primarily to block a multimillion-dollar sanitary sewer system sale to the Florida-based corporation NextEra Energy, voted unanimously Wednesday night on a proposed $37,000 expense budget, which now heads to the Board of Supervisors for approval. About 60% of the budget will go toward legal fees.
In addition, the commission set March 1 and April 24 as the dates for the public hearing at the township building and the town hall at the North Penn High School Audion, respectively.
The commission also set the record straight on why elected Commissioner Don Lepp did not take the oath of office and why commission alternate member Joseph Rumsey was appointed Wednesday as both his replacement and commission vice secretary.
“It’s come to our attention that some misinformation on Don Lepp’s decision on not to serve is circulating in and outside of our community,” read Commission Vice Chair Jenn Foster. “So, with Don’s permission, we’d like to address this.”
Foster said Lepp, a Towamencin volunteer firefighter and former elected township auditor, is a valuable member of the NOPE movement and humbly volunteered to serve as a member of the commission.
“Up until a week before our swearing in, Don had every intention of serving. However, due to personal issues related to his health, he notified us that he would no longer be able to do so,” Foster said. “We want to be clear: Don is completely aligned to this commission’s purposes and there was no other reason for his resignation other than his desire to take care of his health.”
Foster said vacancies on commissions are not uncommon. She said some commissions have appointed an alternate member to serve the vacancy – which is the case here with Rumsey – and others put out applications to the community or chose the candidate with the next highest vote total.
In the case of the Democratic-majority Towamencin Government Study Commission, Republican Nancy Becker, the former Montgomery County Recorder of Deeds, was that candidate.
Foster said the Towamencin Commission filled it by appointing “some other properly qualified elector.”
Alternates, she said, are non-voting members and can quickly fill vacancies. Rumsey was appointed as the seventh commissioner because the commission’s purpose is on a short timeline for which to study the government and make a proposal for a Home Rule Charter, and for which to prevent the sale of the wastewater to a private entity.
“No one on the opposing slate (Towamencin TRUST) shares in this purpose. In fact, the candidate that had the next highest vote count (Becker) has spoken publicly on her desire to see this sale go through, as well as a lack of desire to study the government,” Foster said.
During public comment, Becker said she did not understand why the commission would appoint Rumsey at this point, when it already has a quorum and since Rumsey was not rightly elected by the township voters.
Commission Solicitor Lauren A. Gallagher, of Rudolph Clarke LLC, said the vacancy was created once Lepp was not sworn in 10 days after the election was certified.
“That’s how vacancies function,” Gallagher told Becker. “When there’s a vacancy, there’s someone appointed by the remaining members of the commission to fill that vacancy.”
As far as the commission’s proposed budget, of the total $37,136.86, law firm Rudolph Clarke will get $21,525 of that. This is based on an estimated 80 hours of work, with Gallagher billing at $280 an hour for 75 hours, and a paralegal billing at $105 an hour for five hours.
The commission is proposing almost $13,000 for mailings.
“We’re looking at two mailings to township residents,” said Commission Treasurer Marty Cohen during the budget presentation. “The first mailing would announce the schedule and public hearing meeting to 5,824 households, and there would also be a mailing that would possibly include the same number of households and could be a copy of the Home Rule Charter and final report and includes the town hall meeting date and election date notification.”
A court recorder for the public hearing is estimated at $1,100, and a website is currently being developed at a cost of $165 for six months. The commission is expected to spend $254 in Zoom fees to broadcast live public meetings and $611 in legal notice fees in The Reporter Newspaper.
North Penn School District is charging $10 for rental of its audion for the town hall. The commission expects to spend $558 in printing costs.
“The township has provided services for meeting spaces and IT for meetings, and in previous Home Rule Charter efforts (in Pennsylvania), legal costs in Pennsylvania have been paid for by the municipality,” Cohen said. “The average legal costs for previous Home Rule Charter efforts averaged just $539 between 1972 and 1980, and did not include attorney fees, which were picked up by the township sponsoring this.”
The commission also approved a request to the supervisors for reimbursement of $3,841 that was spent on setting up the website, two ad notices in the newspaper, and Zoom costs.
“We had to spend a little bit of money on this commission before we had a chance to develop a budget,” said Commission Chairman Kofi Osei.
Osei also said NextEra has not yet submitted a Section 1329 Application, which is the acquisition application to close the sale, but the clock is ticking.
“We should have at least six months,” Osei said. “If we want to write a charter that stops the sewer sale, we would have to put that on the May ballot.”
During public comment, Supervisor Kristin Warner was concerned that the charter was being rushed.
“You’re saying ‘let’s get it on the ballot in May’ and that’s really rushing a process that, from what I read, is tough to do in 18 months,” Warner said. “We need to have forethought as to the overall picture, not just the sewer.”
After the meeting, Osei said the township is required by law to fund the commission but admitted the wording in the home rule law is a bit vague. The newly passed 2023 township budget had no money earmarked for the commission, which means it would be an unbudgeted expense for the township.
“Most of the other study commissions have been collaborative and I don’t think there has been a situation where the municipality has denied the study commission’s budget,” Osei said. “I would imagine the Board of Supervisors would get sued by the residents either directly or through the Government Study Commission if they didn’t approve the budget.”
See also:
Towamencin Passes 2023 Budget with 24% Tax Increase
Towamencin Supervisors Approve Land Development Plan for Wawa at Sumneytown and Forty Foot
Towamencin Officially Names New Township Manager
