Nockamixon Township needs readers’ attention

I commend the Herald for reporting on the board of supervisors meetings in Nockamixon Township. It’s hoped that more residents read the Herald then visit the township website and/or attend the meetings (which are open to the public, third Thursday of the month, 7:30 p.m. at the township building. This is the only time residents are permitted to enter our township building, all other business is conducted through a walk-up bank style window).

As a resident of Nockamixon for 28 years I started attending the meetings after visiting the township website and finding years of missing meeting minutes and no way to contact our elected supervisors directly — all correspondence is filtered through the paid manager/treasurer.

In order to obtain the missing meeting minutes and past budgets, I was required to complete a Right to Know request. This request was met within the timelines and my request to update the website with the missing information, was also met.

That said, I was told by the manager that he has little time to keep the website up to date, that no one pays attention to the website anyway, and that there is no requirement for the township to have a website.

What the Herald has not brought to attention in their reporting is how the elected supervisors have seemingly, over time, handed over their authority to represent the residents to the paid manager-treasurer.

This most notably evident at the July meeting where the manager-treasurer, as in past meetings, took command — on the topic of the proposed butterfly garden, His opposition because “his” road crew has no time to maintain the garden in the event the volunteers neglect their commitment. To note, the manager-treasurer does not reside in Nockamixon Township.

The above is only a portion of my observations that have inspired me to share publicly.

I urge all who are reading the Herald to take more interest in attending the monthly meetings, get to know your elected supervisors, learn about what their role is vs. the paid manager-treasurer’s, learn about what’s going on here in Nockamixon in general, and know where our tax dollars are being spent.

Beth Whitman, Ottsville

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