Twenty delinquent garbage accounts will now be sent to the magistrate’s office and charges will be filed against the property owners in Schuylkill Township.

On Monday at the monthly meeting of Schuylkill Township Supervisors, township secretary Colleen Barrett said residents had until Oct. 31 to contact the township office to set up a payment plan or pay the balance in full, and 20 accounts remained unpaid.

Police matters

Township supervisors also questioned a bill in the amount of $63.60 from Dawn’s Vinyls that was incurred by the police department.

According to police Chief Frank DiMarco, the bill was for vinyl magnetic decals to be placed on the township’s police jeep. Although supervisors voted to pay the bill in full, Supervisor Charles Hosler asked DiMarco to go through the supervisors before he made purchases for the department.

“You can’t keep on buying stuff,” he said.

DiMarco explained that the decals were part of the expenses incurred while getting the jeep ready to be used by the officers, which had been approved by the supervisors, but he agreed he would route all future requests through the board. He added that decals were a less expensive alternative than having the entire car detailed.

DiMarco presented the police department annual report, which answered 203 calls between Schuylkill Township and Middleport. A total of 33 traffic citations were issued and six nontraffic citations.

DiMarco answered questions regarding sightings of the township’s police vehicles outside of the township.

“That car is not anywhere it’s not supposed to be,” he said, adding that officers will stop at his auto body shop, located along Route 209, on their way back from a court appearance in Pottsville to tell him how cases went, and they need to travel to Tamaqua to gas up the cars, and to the magistrate’s offices.

“It’s all legitimate.”

Gas issues

Barrett raised questions regarding the credit cards that township employees use to pay for gas in the township vehicles.

“Some of the receipts are not coming back, some of the odometer readings are not matching up,” she said.

Barrett said the police department keeps a card with each vehicle and there are no issues with those cards and receipts.

Supervisors also discussed a situation where a township employee used a card to put gas in his personal vehicle, even though he was using the car to retrieve parts for a township vehicle.

“He can’t fill up his own vehicle,” said Hosler. “He should be putting in for mileage.”

The supervisors deferred the matter to an executive session.

Other business

Barrett advised the supervisors she picked up the 2016 audit for the township and the invoice for the audit was $7,000. She said the number was higher than usual because the township had a new firm, Lettich and Zipay, perform the audit and they needed to take a more extensive look at previous books to be sure the township was in compliance.

Supervisors also discussed PSATS communication regarding Category 4 casinos. If the township wishes to prohibit category 4 casinos within the township limits, they need to approve Resolution 2017-9 and submit it to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board by Dec. 31. The supervisors opted not to approve the resolution, saying that a casino could be good for the township.

Hosler questioned the township solicitor whether they would still be bound by zoning laws in the township, and the solicitor said they would.

“I don’t see any reason to block it,” said Hosler.

“If they decided to put it here, it would benefit us,” said Charles Fayash.

The board also approved the 2018 budget, which calls for revenues of $449,487 and expenditures of $443,600.

The board will hold its reorganization meeting at 6 p.m. on Jan. 2.