North Wales Borough elected officials pose at a training session hosted by Montgomery County for elected officials in early January 2026. From left to right are council members Candace Anderson, Alex Groce, Susan Manning, Mark Tarlecki, Anji Fazio, Melanie Catanese, Sally Neiderhiser, Mayor Neil McDevitt, and councilwoman Star Little. (Photo via Facebook: North Wales Borough)
New council reappoints consultants, will discuss subcommittees
A new year looks likely to bring a familiar call for volunteers in North Wales.
Council took up talks again this month on how to fill a list of vacant seats on volunteer boards and committees.
“The best thing we can do is talk to our neighbors, if anybody’s expressed interest or asked a question about what’s going on in the borough,” said council President Mark Tarlecki.
“This is the time to say, ‘Would you like to be involved? And find out more?’” he said.
Each year council and borough staff update their list of volunteer appointees, contact those whose terms expire at the end of the year to ask if they’d like to be reappointed, then post the list of remaining vacancies on the town’s website and social media pages to seek new applicants. As of the most recent list update in October, three seats were open on the town’s parks and recreation board, one each on the planning commission and human relations commission, and one on the historical architecture review board that must be filled by a licensed real estate broker.
During the Jan. 13 council meeting Hart said that process is already underway, with a first batch of reappointments likely to be before council for approval on Jan. 27.
Consultants reappointed
During the town’s reorganization meeting on Jan. 5, new council members Melanie Catanese and Susan Manning were both sworn in, after running unopposed for four-year terms to fill seats that had been held by now-former councilwomen Wendy McClure and Sarah Whelan. That group also unanimously reappointed Tarlecki to act as council president, a seat he has held since the resignation of prior councilman Sal Amato last summer, and named councilman Alex Groce to be council vice president and councilwoman Anji Fazio to be president pro tem if the other two are absent.
Several consultants were also unanimously approved, including another stint for longtime solicitor Greg Gifford of Colmar-based Rubin, Glickman, Steinburg and Gifford. Gifford has acted as the town’s attorney since the late 2000s and had served on council in the 1980s, according to the manager, and Gifford said he was “honored to continue to serve the borough” after he was reappointed unanimously.
Several other unanimous votes then followed, reappointing Maillie LLP as the borough’s auditor, Bowman Consulting Group as engineer, and Keystone Municipal Services as building code inspector.
AI talks on agenda?
Councilwoman Candace Anderson asked if the town could take up talks on a new topic, or if staff are already investigating.
“I was speaking with Alex about AI: using Copilot, or Chat GPT, or Gemini? I wanted to know if we can use that? What are the rules for using AI?” she said.
Hart answered that she and Gifford have held early talks on that same topic, how council members should be advised on using artificial intelligence tools as part of their duties, and the town’s insurance carrier is currently planning training sessions on the same topic.
“It’s great, but as a government agency, there are many things we have to look out for,” Hart said.
“It is an incredible tool, but it could be dangerous as well,” Hart said.
North Wales borough council next meets at 7 p.m. on Jan. 27 at the borough municipal building, 300 School Street; for more information visit www.NorthWalesBorough.org.
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