The West Penn Township board of supervisors appointed James Bonner as the township’s new police chief on Monday.

Bonner will fill the void of longtime chief Brian Johnson, who retired from the position in August. Bonner held the title of officer in charge over the last two months.

“Thank you, I appreciate your support,” Bonner said to the board after the appointment. “It wouldn’t be possible without you guys.”

Bonner has an extensive resume of police work.

He was with West Penn Township since 2016 and spent more time locally with the Lansford, Coaldale and Bethlehem departments. Bonner worked for both the Carbon and Lehigh County Sheriff’s offices.

“For now, we’re working toward an accreditation process,” Bonner said. “For now, it’s restructuring and reorganizing. Getting some quality officers in here, and I think that’s the key, getting some real quality police officers here.”

Bonner said two more officers could be joining the department soon.

“My goal is about 11 (officers) - to have about 11 guys. Two full-time with the support of eight-to-10-part-timers,” Bonner added.

Fritz was also hired by the township at Monday’s meeting as an administrative assistant for the police department and road crew. The full-time role will also help fill some of the void left by former township roadmaster, Clint Schock, who left last month.

“Carla (Fritz) and I both have roots to West Penn - so this is a hometown for us,” Bonner said. “We own property in the township, and we will be making this our home.”

“This is a great township; I love it here,” Fritz said. “I hope I can support the police and road departments to make everything good.”

Recycling update

After Schuylkill County ended its recycling program, supervisors wasted no time to incorporate its own for residents.

“At last month’s meeting, we had some citizens come to us with recycling problems,” said Tony Prudenti, board chairman.

“We might have a couple of days where the recycling is closed, because the bin is full. We discussed that maybe we would budget some more money for this. And before we go that far, I was just wondering if the fire department would entertain us making the (concrete) pad a little bit bigger and having a second bin there for overflow when needed.”

Supervisor Tim Houser said lack of drivers is affecting when the township’s recycling bin is emptied.

West Penn Fire Chief Jeff Bradford, gave an optimistic response to Prudenti.

“I can tell you, that because of how the operation is going so far, that it will be received well. We have our meeting next Wednesday and I’ll ask,” Bradford added.

Trick-or-treat

Supervisors set a date and time for West Penn’s trick-or-treat night, which will be held on Oct. 30 from 5-8 p.m.