Exeter Supervisors approve special counsel under shroud of mystery
Counsel approved, but little info revealed
The Exeter Board of Supervisors (BOS) did approve another special counsel Monday night, though still under a shroud of mystery.
Board chair Jack Piho turned the mic over to Solicitor Chad Schnee early in the meeting to give a brief overview.
“Just wanted to note on solicitor number one, it's a motion to appoint Special Counsel. There's not a lot of details with it. And that's because the township is limited in what it's permitted to say here. What I can tell you is that one this matter involves a nonpublic investigation by another entity into matters that do not involve any current employees of Exeter Township, and all members of the board have been made aware of this issue in the past weeks and months. The purpose of this motion is to retain special counsel in this unique area of law in order to assist the township and obtaining legal advice in this matter. There are two law firms Stevens and Lee (S&L) and Ballard Spahr, (BS) that are under consideration by the board with respect to tonight's motion.”
When the meeting progressed to the Solicitor’s portion, the only other info that came out was the rates each firm would charge. S&L’s charge was for two different attorneys, one would come at the rate of $550/hour, the other $607/hour. BS’s rate was just over $1,000/hour. The motion was made and passed 4-1.
Hughes questioned if the BOS should set a limit to how much they’d be willing to spend on this pursuit, but no othere interest was found in that area. It will probably be discussed at a later time.
All normal approvals, minutes, disbursements, Treasurer’s Report, passed 4-1 as usual.
In “Administration”, the vote to approve a new agreement with Revize for website hosting and design was tabled.
In “Finance”, the BOS approved an extension of a Certificate of Deposit for $10 million with First National Bank. The rate was 5.25% and the term is for three months. Dave Hughes urged the shorter term to maximize the interest earned, and posited that the Fed may reduce rates in June, leading to an inflationary spiral. George Bell concurred with the short term assessment, as did Piho. The vote was unanimous.
In “Public Works”, approval was granted for a new mower for the parks in Exeter for $11,775.44, in a 5-0 vote.
Approval was granted for the fixing of the Farming Ridge and Lorane Hollow tennis courts by Keystone Sports Construction, for a total cost to the township of roughly $39,600. The repairs are partially paid for by a Berks Greenway Grant of $25,000.
Also in “Parks and Recreation”, a need for a motion was shot down for a summer pickle ball program for seniors at Hillcrest Racquet Club. Confusion reigned for a few minutes until it was determined that since no cost came to the township, that they were merely publicizing the event. Hillcrest will host a free intro to pickleball class on June 4th. Residents may register afterwards for sessions to be held from June 12th to 26th, and July 17th, to 31st. Sessions will be on Wednesdays from 5:00 to 6:15 PM, and will cost $39 for each session.
In announcements before the meeting, Piho announced that the BOS held an executive session on Thursday the 21st to conduct an online interview with a township manager candidate. Another executive session was held before tonight’s meeting to discuss the sale of the RCC.
It was divulged that the reason we’re still seeing the fence up at the Promenade site if because there is unstable ground in the old Giant portion, later mentioned to be “pipes sticking up out of the ground”.
Police Chief Matt Harley gave the February police report:
In the Manager’s Report, Larry Piersol said that the Easter Egg Hunt that was scheduled for this past Saturday was rained out and moved to Saturday the 30th at 11 AM at Trout Run.
He also reported that at the next meeting they’d do a review of the 2023 budget, and in the second meeting in April, they’d discuss the first quarter budget results.
Township offices are closed Friday in observance of Good Friday.
The next BOS meeting will be April 7th at 7 PM in the township building.