By MICHAEL HIRSCH

Special to The Press

North Whitehall supervisors, at their June 6 meeting, appointed Randy Cope as the new township manager.

He is interim township manager at South Whitehall Township until July 1, according to South Whitehall Commissioner Brad Osborne June 9 in an email to The Press.

Cope will assume his new job on July 11.

Dennis Klusaritz, vice chairman, addressed Chris Garges, the outgoing township manager.

“You did an outstanding job for more than two years that I have known you,” Klusaritz said. “We became good friends. You went above and beyond your line of duty.

“You got this township more than $400,000 in grant money. Thank you for helping with the recruiting process.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

“I wish you the best with your new position and you’re welcome back here anytime.”

In other matters, there was a presentation by the Lehigh University Small Business Development Center’s Mary Kelly Cohick.

She said the organization works with entrepreneurs in Lehigh County and is looking for the opportunity to gain additional awareness for the organization, to look for opportunities that are common between the goals of the township and to meet the needs of entrepreneurs in the township.

The center is funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The center also works on the economic impact of Northampton and Bucks counties.

In addition, recreation fees were on the agenda.

Garges said this was a product of the Parks Recreation and Open Space Plan.

He was asking for authorization to study the fees.

The consultant should have the study completed in three months.

Adopting a policy for social media was also on the agenda.

Garges mentioned the township has a Facebook page, a NextDoor.com page and a website.

The township has not had any issues, but this is a proactive approach.

The policy lays out how the township would react to certain situations.

“If there is something that shows up, we have a policy to point to and an operation that we can follow to address that,” he said.

A draft of the policy was approved by the board.