By MICHAEL HIRSCH

Special to The Press

Commissioners Diane Kelly, Brad Osborne and Monica Hodges were present at the Aug. 3 South Whitehall Township.

Fellow board members David Kennedy and Michael Wolk attended virtually.

The first item for the evening was naming Thomas Petrucci as township manager.

Petrucci will be responsible to the board of commissioners for day-to-day operations.

He will direct all executive functions, including supervision of the police, public works, finance, parks and recreation, and community development departments.

Petrucci has a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Temple University and a Master’s degree in public administration with an emphasis in financial management and leadership ethics from Villanova.

He was township manager for the Borough of Bath from 2012-15, and served as the first township manager for Plainfield Township for the past seven years.

His start date is Sept. 6. Brad Osborne welcomed Petrucci.

“We’ve been waiting for you,” Osborne said.

Commissioners named Vinny Quinn as a regular member of the Civil Service Commission.

He is currently an alternate member but with the retirement of Mike Bruckner, Quinn will take on the position.

Police Chief Glen Dorney commented on the appointment.

“Mr. Quinn has done a substantially excellent job for the last two years as an alternate member, and we believe he would be a perfect fit for the Civil Service Commission,” Dorney said.

Wehr’s Dam was next on the list to be discussed.

Interim Township Manager Herb Bender said the first round of bids were rejected.

“The mandatory pre-bid meeting was held today at 10 a.m. at Wehr’s Dam. Questions had to be submitted to PennBid. The deadline was today at 4 p.m.”

Bids were expected to be opened on Aug. 8.

“We will be bringing the bids back to commissioners, hopefully to award the bid this time.

“We feel we are going to get competitive bids this time.”

In other matters, long range planner Chris Strohler provided a comprehensive plan update.

“We will be conducting some public outreach this September, in coordination with Parkland School District, to get feedback on the final elements and to really get the community excited about the plan,” Strohler said. “We’re looking at having a draft plan in October.”