Upper Macungie's re-organization meeting was held to appoint delegated township officials to their respective posts.

The chairmanship of the board of aupervisors was given to newcomer Jim Brunell, while Sam Ashmar was selected vice chairman.

Supervisor Kathy Rader will continue as secretary.

Barry Moyer was named business manager/treasurer with a bond of $1,000.000. Roadmasters will be the three supervisors.

Team managers will be Police Chief Edgardo Colon, Scott Faust for public works, Fire Commissioner Grant Grim, Richard Henderson for the sewer authority, Kenneth Molony for commercial development and Business Manager Moyer.

Andrew and William Schantz, along with Davison and McCarthy will be legal counsel for the board of supervisors, planning commission and the Upper Macungie Township Authority. Zoning Hearing Board counsel will be the law firm of Steckel and Stopp.

Engineer for the township, representing supervisors, planning commission and township authority, will be Keystone Consulting Engineers Inc.

Third party inspectors will be Base Engineers as primary, with Code Master Inspection Services as secondary.

Auditors for the township and the authority will be France, Anderson, Basile and Company.

Appointed to the vacancy board is John Kuhns while William Erdman will serve a five-year term on the Building Code Board of Appeals.

Impact Fee Committee members will be John Landis and David Reimert, who will each have a three-year term.

Ashmar and Geoffrey Legg will serve four-year terms on the planning commission.

Zoning hearing board members will be Michael McCrystal for a five-year term, Kenneth Kratz (term expires 2014) and Robert Rabe, whose term will expire in 2015.

Alternates will be Todd Greenawalt and Nancy Muick with terms expiring in 2016.

James Adams was appointed to the recreation board for a five-year term. There are still two vacancies on this board.

Upper Macungie Township Authority will have Owen Bastian, Barry Moyer, Edward Earley, David Reimert and Ashmar, with terms expiring successively from 2014.

Ashmar and Brunell were appointed to the Berks Lehigh Police Commission Closeout Committee.

Meeting dates were set along with the holiday schedule.

Supervisors will meet 7 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month.

Sewer authority meets 4 p.m. on the second Thursday of January, April, July and October, as needed.

The zoning hearing board meets 6:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesday each month.

Planning commission meets 7 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month with a work session 7 p.m. on the Monday before.

The recreation board meets 7 p.m. on last Thursday of the month with the exception of November and December.

Those meetings will be Nov. 20 and Dec. 18.

After the re-organization meeting, the board moved into its regular monthly meeting.

A resolution was adopted to amend the Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. agreement concerning the traffic flow pattern.

As there was a change to the original proposal, a new traffic study was performed and it was found the changes would not significantly affect the traffic in and around the complex. This resolution amended the original study.

The Fogelsville dam project is proceeding with the intent to have bids presented to lower the dam breast 6 feet in 2-foot intervals.

The dam breast was built by Portland Cement Company around 1914.

The Recreation Passport listed several upcoming programs.

Family Game Night will be Jan. 24 at Independent Park. Pickup volleyball is being offered drom 8-10 p.m. Tuesdays through March 25 at Fogelsville Elementary School.

A hunter trapper course is being offered from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on March 15 at Independent Park. March 4 will be set aside for tree care at Independent Park.

If anyone has interest in any of the programs, contact Valerie in the township office.

The police department reported a total of 702 incidents during December 2013.

Police issued 155 traffic citations and there were 30 motor vehicle accidents with 72 non-reportable MVAs.

Fire Commissioner Grant Grim's report noted there were 70 emergency responses under 59 separate incidents.

EMS responses totaled 223. Fifty-three fire inspections were done in the month.

The public works crew was busy with leaf collection, grinding mulch, repairing signs, working at the parks, trimming brush, along with salting and plowing snow from the roads.

The December 2013 zoning report included five permits for new residences with 12 permits for residential additions or alterations.

Three permits were issued for new commercial/industrial buildings with six permits for additions. Four zoning permits were issued.

A zoning appeal was held to hear the appeal of Jeffrey Kocher, for property along Wood Lane, Breinigsville, for a variance to construct an accessory structure with a square footage in excess of the allowable limit.

The board granted the variance.

A discussion ensued on a proposal to employ a township manager.

This person would take care of the daily decisions and would help run the township.

Rader said the person hired would need excellent organizational skills and be experienced in the field.

Supervisors decided to obtain the services of the Meyner Center at Lafayette College to recruit candidates for the position.

Representatives from the center will meet with supervisors to ascertain the type of person the board is contemplating hiring.

The center will prepare the advertisement, review the candidates, prepare a list for the board to interview and assist the township negotiating terms of employment.

The maximum fee the center will charge is $6,000.

Ashmar asked Schantz how the township can recoup money it is owed.

Ashmar said there is approximately $95,000 outstanding in developer accounts and a policy should be developed to enforce collection of these fees. Schantz will look into the issue

The South Parkland Youth Association wants to erect a building at Grange Park.

The group has offered use of a portion of the building to the township, if needed.

A waiver of the building fees was requested and, after discussion, the waiver was granted.

Jeff Grim addressed the board concerning the parking problem on Ambassador Drive.

There also was mention of a parking problem along Weilers Road.

The board will look into these matters to see what can be done.

Trucks are reportedly parking in these areas for an extended period of time.

However, if the areas are posted for no parking, no one would be allowed to park.