North Whitehall supervisors met Dec. 3 for the last time in 2012.

The board's next meeting will be to reorganize Jan. 7, 2013.

Township auditors' organizational meeting will be Jan. 14, 2013. Both meetings start at 7:30 p.m.

Township offices will be closed Dec. 24 and 25, and Jan. 1. 2013.

In other matters, supervisors accepted the resignation of Terry Reppert from the recreation board.

No replacement was announced.

Supervisors also re-viewed the Correll lot line adjustment.

Surveyor Bob Hoppes and the property owners presented the plan to the board.

Two lots at the intersection of Clearview and Scheidys roads will be combined to make one 2.7-acre lot. Supervisors approved the proposal.

The board approved tax rates for next year. Real estate tax will remain at .5 mills; street lights for residential areas $37; street lights for institutional areas $1,505; real estate transfer tax will be one-half of 1 percent, income tax one-half of 1 percent and local services tax $52.

A motion was made and approved to include Supervisor Ron Heintzelman in the township insurance plan as he is the only working supervisor on the board.

Secretary Brenda Norder was authorized to advertise for fuel bids for 2013 and to advertise for a CPA firm to audit the township and tax collector financial records for 2012.

Township Manager Jeff Bartlett then introduced two members of NOVA, the Northern Valley Emergency Medical Services.

Joseph Solderich and Jason Breidinger asked the board for a donation to buy a new vehicle for the fleet.

Some of the current vehicles are having costly mechanical problems and the idea was to replace one of them.

They would like to obtain $50,000 from the township toward the purchase of a newer vehicle.

As the budget was basically set for 2013, supervisors had difficulty finding money to appropriate.

Norder noted there remained $40,000 in the 2012 budget set aside for such a purpose.

After discussing the matter, supervisors agreed to give the $40,000 from the 2012 budget to NOVA and address the remaining $10,000 in the 2013 budget next year.

Solderich then gave the audience a short presentation of the services NOVA offers and the equipment that they have available.

He stated 50 percent of their calls are from North Whitehall Township.

Bartlett then presented the budget to the board. Total projected revenue in 2013 is $4,346,163 while total expenditures are projected at $4,269,421.

This is slightly less than 2012. A revenue excess of $76,742 is expected. The budget was approved as presented.

Solicitor Lisa Young then presented a resolution offering the dedication of the road right-of-way of Oakland Road and Wedgewood Drive, in Spring Knoll Estates, to the township.

The roads were accepted by the board, which also approved the reduction of the letter of credit of Spring Knoll Estates to $191,331. Winter maintenance on two stub streets will be done by the township road crew.

The developer will be billed at the township rate but only for the winter of 2012-13.

This issue will be revisited next year after discussion with the developer.

A substitute letter of credit was approved by supervisors for the Timberidge VII development.

The new letter is from The Neffs National Bank and replaces one on file from another bank.

Yorgey Supply's letter of credit was terminated upon payment of any outstanding bills.

The remaining money will be returned to the developer.

Don Steffy presented the board a list of changes he and apparently some other residents would like to see in the township.

One of the items, the appointment of a township manager, was accomplished with the appointment of Bartlett.

The other two items he proposed were the creation of a five-member board of supervisors and that there be no working supervisors.

He will try to have the five-member board proposal placed on the ballot for a vote by residents.

He cited certain statistics in support of the proposal to eliminate the working supervisor position.

Steffy said there are only five townships of the second class in Lehigh and Northampton counties with working supervisors.

He urged the board to restrict the practice of a working supervisor before the next election so anyone running for the position would know of its elimination.

Supervisor Steve Pany spoke out against the proposal citing the benefits of having a working supervisor on the board.

"Our working supervisor works off the clock on his own time in the best interest of the township," Pany said.