The police chief in Mahanoy Area now also holds the highest rank in the Rush Township Police Department.

New township police Chief Ken Zipovsky was in attendance during Thursday’s board of supervisors’ meeting.

Zipovsky was appointed at a special meeting held June 4, following the unexpected death of former township police Chief Joseph E. Lipsett III.

His agreement spans five years and seven months, beginning on June 1 of this year, and ending Dec. 31, 2023.

Zipovsky is scheduled to make $38,500 this year (a figure representing seven months of income based on a yearly salary of $66,000); $66,000 in 2019; $67,000 in 2020; $68,000 in 2021; $69,000 in 2022; and $70,000 in 2023.

After the meeting, he said that among his goals are to “make a safer Rush Township.”

Zipovsky, of Hazleton, is currently the chief of police in Mahanoy City, a position he has held since January.

He said he plans to continue to serve in both capacities for a while.

“Both the township and the borough (Mahanoy City) have been cooperative,” Zipovsky said.

Zipovsky, who has 27 years of law enforcement experience, retired from the Hazleton City Police Department after 25 years, where he ascended to the ranks of first lieutenant.

He said he previously applied for the top post in Rush Township back in 2016.

Lipsett, 65, of Branch Township, had been hired in January 2017 as the township’s police chief. His salary was $65,000.