Newtown Borough Council Expected To Move Forward With Manager Search

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, PA — The Newtown Borough Council on Tuesday, Oct. 10 is expected to move forward with the search and potential recruitment of its first borough manager.

Listed on the council's agenda is the hiring of the Meyner Center to assist with the process of finding and selecting a manager to handle the administration of the borough.

If approved, the nonprofit center based at Lafayette College will provide the borough with guidance in choosing the procedure for recruiting a manager and the potential selection of a candidate.

Council voted in August to amend the borough ordinance to include the position of borough manager as an option. The borough currently operates with a full-time treasurer and a full-time borough secretary with members of the unpaid borough council taking on oversight responsibilities.

For more than a decade, the council has debated the hiring of a borough manager, but it was the announced resignation in July of its longtime treasurer, Pat Ours, that brought the idea back to the table. Our's resignation is effective Nov. 1.

At a special meeting in late September, council hired Gilbert, Wilson & Hunter, LLP, to handle the borough's bookkeeping and accounting services following Ours' departure. GWH has offices on North State Street directly across the street from the borough hall and in Oswego, New York.

The move will give the borough time to conduct a search for a borough manager.

In other action at Tuesday night's meeting, council is expected to grant an extension of time to the Steeple View Phase 2 Amended Preliminary and Final Plan. Also listed on the agenda is a brief presentation on the revised plans by the developer.

Council also is expected to advertise a municipal tax credit for volunteer firefighters living in the borough. As an incentive to attract new volunteers to the fire service, the credit would forgive the volunteers up to $1,000 in Earned Income Tax.

To be eligible, a volunteer would be required to meet certain criteria, including respond to a minimum of 20 percent of the fire calls

The council will also fill three openings on its planning commission created by the resignation of four of its members. The members resigned in protest over council's vote to grant conditional use approval to the Steeple View redevelopment project for shared parking.

The council is expected to approve the appoint of Scott Williams for the remainder of a four-year term through December 31, 2024; Don Hayden for the remainder of a four-year term through December 31, 2024; and Courtney Lang for the remainder of a four-year term through December 31, 2023.

Tuesday night's meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Chancellor Center. The meeting can also be watched via a Zoom link available through the borough's website.