Board OKs dog rules
BY SUSAN BRYANT
The issue of dogs running wild in Heidelberg Township was again on the agenda at the supervisors’ July 20 meeting.
Zoning Officer Dawn Didra reported the situation has apparently moved to Heidelberg Heights.
“There are some dogs running loose there,” Didra said. “I guess there were some bites.
“I received some information about the incidents, so once the new ordinance is in place, I can start using it when there are new incidents.”
The board approved an ordinance making animal owners responsible for their pets, keeping them under restraint and preventing them from trespassing onto other people’s property without permission.
Upon conviction by the district justice, the animal owner would be required to pay a fine of $100, plus all costs of prosecution, for the first offense.
A conviction for a second offense carries a $200 fine.
A third and subsequent convictions increase by $100 each with a maximum fine per offense limited to $1,000.
In other matters, supervisors approved Katie Fabian, of Weisenberg Township, as the new full-time zoning and administrative assistant.
Chairman Jonathan Jakum said her first day of work would be July 24.
“The hourly wage for this position will be $17.50,” Jakum stated.
“Regular working hours are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The board of supervisors has agreed to allow you to work a 35-hour workweek for your first two years of employment, if the board deems it necessary.
“At anytime, your workweek may increase to a 40-hour workweek, your start time will be at 8 a.m.”
Fabian commented.
“My husband and I have two boys who we are raising here, and I am really excited to become part of the community,” she told the board.
During the regional EMS Steering Committee report, Supervisor David Fink said the county is pushing forward with the new radios that Germansville Fire Chief Jay Scheffler has been discussing.
“It could be upward of close to $100,000 to retrofit every vehicle with all these new radios and everything,” he said.
Scheffler commented.
“The vendors are still working on it because it went out to bid,” he said.
“They are still visiting site towers, all existing site towers and then some geographics, if they have to add towers.
‘I would think we would go digital. That’s what Berks County has gone to. I think it should be statewide and nationwide.”
He said at the fire chiefs meeting they were told it would be around the end of October for the bidding process and for the companies to do the tower work.
“It will probably be around 2025 when the radios come,” Scheffler said.
He said Brian Carl, with Weisenberg Township Fire Department, has been talking with Rick Molchany, director of General Services with Lehigh County, and he is saying the burden of the price is going to fall to the municipalities and the fire departments.
“I don’t think that is going to go over well at a chiefs meeting,” Scheffler stated. “Hopefully, the county can get a grant or something. This is not a cheap project.”
Fink suggested all EMT services get together with every township to obtain some grants, as all EMT service vehicles will need to be retrofitted for new radios.