1 day Ago By By CHAUNCEY ROSS [email protected]
BLACK LICK — Under cover of darkness, the Burrell Township board of supervisors on Wednesday agreed to advertise the township’s budget for 2025. It was nothing subversive. The supervisors literally conducted business in blacked-out Black Lick while Penelec crews scrambled to restore electric service to more than 760 customers in the Route 119 corridor.
The power went out about 6:15 p.m. as strong wind and rain pounded the county.
Chairman John Shields lit a small candle in a jar to illuminate his workspace in the meeting room. Sam Hilty fashioned a lantern from a bottle of water placed on top of a cellphone flashlight. Grant Reeger lit his cellphone light to read from the meeting agenda.
The township will make no changes to the tax rates: 1.02 mills on real estate for general operations, 0.27 mill to fund the Black Lick Volunteer Fire Department and 0.
078 mill for fire hydrant system maintenance. Street light assessments will stay at the rates set a year ago. The tentative spending plan, devised by the supervisors during four workshop sessions in late October, is fairly straightforward.
The township will carry over about $909,580 into the new year, raise $759,280 of revenue, pay $758,280 of expenses, and finish 2025 with $909,580 in the bank. The board will consider the budget with any proposed changes for final adoption Dec. 18.
In other business, the supervisors accepted Beth Branthoover’s resignation from the Burrell Township Library board of directors and appointed Molly Ihli and Karl Brumagin to fill vacancies on the library board. Library Director Jen Van Hannak praised Branthoover’s dedicated volunteer service and said Ihli and Brumagin are welcome additions. “I think many in the community know Beth Branthoover and how much she has done for veterans, for the homeless .
.. and in owning a business,” Van Hannak said.
“We’re really sad that she has to leave.” Ihli, of Strangford Road, is a retired United High School teacher of English and a volunteer for the Derry Library; Brumagin, of the Smith Plan, is a longtime library patron and volunteer with several community groups, according to the application letters Shields read during the meeting. Van Hannak said the library would present another application for consideration in December.
The board still has one vacancy. Robert Thompson, vice president of the Burrell Township Recreation & Parks board, said the the department has formed an advisory committee of five to search for recreation grant opportunities. “We’re in the infancy stage right now, and we’re learning,” he said.
“Hopefully we have some good people who will take the ball and run with it.” Thompson also said the parks department also plans to publish a calendar of events for 2025 sometime in December. So far, he said, seven parks-sponsored events are planned in the coming year “and hopefully we can add some more, maybe some concerts.
” Thompson said early publicity of Rec & Parks Department events could help avoid schedule conflicts with other events in the area..
