BY SUSAN BRYANT

sbryant@tnonline.com

Upper Macungie resident Linda Gorr was the first person to address supervisors during their Dec. 1, 2022, meeting.

“I went to the recreation board meeting, the last one they had,” Gorr said. “I have some concerns and I voiced them there then.

“I did not feel very welcomed; that’s all I’m going to say about it.

“I took notice as I’ve watched and read their minutes. They’re going now to meet only six times a year.

“Why, when there is stuff to discuss every month at that meeting?

“We should not allow that to happen.

“Many years ago, we had what we called a rec board. They started meeting monthly then bimonthly, then quarterly, then it died.

“So, for years we didn’t have a recreation board.“

Gorr stated years ago she fought with former Supervisors Sam Ashmar, Kathy Rader and Ed Earley to get a rec board reestablished, and they did.

She asked supervisors if they had anything to say about the rec board changing the number of scheduled meetings.

“I understand you need to give them some leeway, but how can they just change that without even bringing it to supervisors to approve? she asked.

“And now, they’re looking at possibly even going quarterly.

“To me that’s just not enough. You know we need to have that rec board. They’re doing an awesome job, but if they’re not going to meet, they can’t keep doing that job.”

Chairman James Brunell commented on the issue before having Recreation Manager Mike Kukitz speak.

“I think we’re all in agreement with that, but I’d like to see if Mike has anything to say,” Brunell said.

Kukitz said he was also at that meeting, as well, and it was his first meeting.

“I definitely took what you (Linda) had to say to heart and have been doing a lot of thinking about it,” he said.

“We are going to be having some internal discussions to see what we can do moving forward as far as what’s going to work for the township and what is best with the parks and rec board.”

Brunell then asked Solicitor Andrew Schantz if the rec board has to check with the board of supervisors as they meet on their behest.

“I believe they did come before the board, and it was approved; the bylaw change was approved by the board,” Schantz said. “It’s been about a year.

“I am looking into it, and again, Linda, I appreciate you bringing this to our attention.”

Gorr then said the only other question she had was if there was a discussion on term limits at the recreation board meeting.

“When I asked about that at the meeting, I was brushed off and they said we didn’t talk about it yet,” Gorr said.

“We’re going to talk about it. It’s on the agenda for tonight.

“I asked what they were discussing as far as term limits.

“Are the term limits a term limit in as much as when you sign up for that board, you sign up for five years or are they looking at a term limit that may be is less than five years, maybe a three-year limit, which I think is fine, but is that the term.

“I have heard these term limits are going to be more along the lines of people who have been on the board or are on the board.”

Brunell said nothing has been discussed with supervisors.

“We are going to rely heavily on Mike’s input for guidance on this,” he said.

One resident asked if the rec board could also broadcast meetings like the supervisors do.

Brunell said he doesn’t have a problem with that.

“I think that’s a good idea,” he said, before asking Kukitz his thoughts on the issue.

“I have no problem with that to be honest, Kukitz stated.

Schantz then commented.

“Just to clarify, each board has the prerogative to arrange their rules or their meetings as they so choose, so the recreation board could choose to or not to stream their meetings that’s their choice, obviously the board can weigh in with their opinion on what they would prefer.

Ibach said he would draft a letter to the chairman of the recreation board on behalf of supervisors expressing a desire to broadcast meetings.