Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Welcome to this meeting of the Middletown Township Board of Supervisors. Would everybody please stand and join us in the pledge of allegiance of the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisibley andice for all Miss Corbel would you please call roll Mr. Kizak here, Miss Hannah here, Miss Kaine here, Miss Strauss here.

Also in attendance is township manager Mr. Ratliff, assistant township manager Mr. Vala, township solicitor Mr. Espazito, township engineer Mr. Candera, chief of police Joseph Berelli, director of building and zoning Jim Enis, director of parks and recreation Paul Capera, director of finance Laura Hucklebridge.

Thank you, Miss Corpal. Uh, our next board of supervisors meeting is Monday, September 8th, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. here in the public hall. And we also have upcoming our capital planning workshop. That is going to be Monday, August 18th, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. That is going to be at the uh community center at 2140 Trenton Road, Levittown. Um, again, that's not here. That is at the community center August 18th at 5:30. and that is our capital planning workshop which is the first uh step in our annual budget process. Next on the agenda, we have a special item tonight and that is the summer recreation program charity car wash presentation benefiting the Foster Hope PA. Hi, my name is Carol Garner and I'm the site supervisor uh for Middletown Township summer wreck program over at Cork Creek Park. Our summer program gives the children um of the community an opportunity to make new friends, to explore their creativity, to be outdoor in nature, and to learn new things. Kudos to our program specialist Joanne Morelli for planning out the eight weeks of activities for all three of our sites and always being available to gather supplies when needed and answer any questions that may arise. She's very good at this job that she loves. So, everyone has the power to change the world. Maybe it's by something that you think, maybe it's by something that you say, or maybe it's by something that you do. We ne we never know how it will affect the world. But if it's done with a pure intention, the outcome will always be positive. I wanted my campers to have that

experience. As the campers decorated their small treasure chest uh craft with a um as they decorated the treasure chest, I placed a penny in that treasure chest. I told them that they had the power to make that penny grow. I gave them ideas on how to make that happen. Look through your coat pockets. Um look on the ground. Uh do extra chores around the house. Have a bake sale. have a garage sale. And the first year that we did this, we collected $50 and we donated it to the SPCA. The second year, we had a different craft and I placed a penny in that and we collected $100 and we donated it to the American Red Cross. the other two site supervisors, Nicole Tenner and Jenna Degner, um they asked if their sites could be a part of our efforts and we collaborated together and we came up with the idea of having a car wash for the community. So, we collected over $1,000 and donated it to the Ronald McDonald House camp as a way of helping other campers. The following year, we collected $1,500 and donated it to the Sunshine Foundation, which helped to send one little girl and her family to Florida. Last year, we collected $2,000 and donated it to Fostering Hope Lower Bucks chapter right here in New Town. Over this past winter, Fostering Hope invited us to come to their closet to show us how our donation has helped and offered us more insight on what they do um to help foster children and foster parents.

We were impressed by their efforts and we decided to donate to them again this year. So, we had a representative from Fostering Hope come to each campsite and explain to the campers what foster care is and how uh their hard-earned money can help. So, tonight I have with me Sarah Bernstein who is a representative from Fostering Hope to share with you the impact of what they do and how it has helped many in the community. Sarah Hello, I'm Sarah Burstein, one of the leaders of um Fostering Hope Lower Bucks. And on behalf of our chapter, um, I just wanted to thank Middletown Township, um, and Parks and Recreation and your amazing staff and campers, um, for once again making such, um, a meaningful difference in the lives of kids experiencing foster care in our community. For the second year in a row, your car wash and donations have gone above and beyond, helping us provide not just the necessities families need, but also the little extras that really bring joy to these kids. As a completely volunteer-led nonprofit, every dollar donated here tonight will go directly to families um and the children in their care, the resource families, from car seats to diapers and baby gear to clothing, toiletries um and school supplies to larger items um such as beds and dressers and even gifts for birthdays and graduations. When children see how many people in their own community care enough to chip in and help them, it sends a really powerful message. They're not forgotten, and they're not alone in what they're going through. What you all, campers and staff alike, have done will have a

lasting impact on local families, and we are so grateful for your kindness and your effort. Thank you for being a part of their journey and for showing them how much their community cares.

Thank you, sir. [Music] So, who knew the idea and a penny could make a difference in the world? But it clearly has. And it is my hope that when the day comes and I'm no longer the site supervisor, that these young campers will always remember this lesson that kindness does matter and it is contagious. So, without any further delay, I'd like to um present on behalf of all three campsites a check to Sarah for from Fostering Hope. Um we're very proud of our campers, very proud of the staff, very proud of everybody that supported us. Um and I'm happy to say that this year we have surpassed our $2,000 and we raised $2,175. So each year it seems to keep growing and like I said the universe will always support you when you have a good pure intention. So thank you. [Applause]

Do we still do that? [Laughter]

We do now. [Applause] And once again, thank you so much to all of our campers. and all of our incredible park and recck staff. Um it's incredible program and a great donation for uh a great organization. So, we're really really proud of our park and wreck campers and staff. Okay. Uh next on the agenda is public comment on non-aggenda items. Any public comment on non-aggenda items? Yep. Let's go on up to microphone, please.

Evening. Uh Chris Noski, Albert, and Langghorn. I just finished reading a great book on President Grover Cleveland 1892. Not very wellknown, but a man worth knowing about. He was uh very much anti-corruption president. He was known for his strong moral stance um for being an upstanding member of the community, having a serious knowledge of the difference between right and wrong and carrying it out. And in his personal life, he was looked up to for all those stances. He was a pillar of the community type figure. You know, everybody looked up to him. Politically, that didn't reward him quite as much because political parties and their donors were looking for favors. They were looking for jobs. So, it didn't exactly help him in that regard. He was more of a man of the people. And he has a famous quote that I really like. And it is, a public office is a public trust. That's a good one. Public office is a public trust. So, the reason I'm here tonight is because August is tax month in Middletown. So, everybody who is a property owner here is going to be cutting a check or driving down to the tax office over on Trenton Road and dealing with the public office of the tax collector. And I would argue that our public tax collector in his dual role as chair of the Middletown Republican Committee has broken the public trust. And I'm going to explain why. The Middletown Republican Committee is involved or includes about 40 or 50 different committee people. And one of them today is who I like to call hate speech lady. Now, hate speech lady was the shortest tenure auditor in Middletown's elected history. 48 hours, 62 hours, something like that. Anyway, she's on the committee now. And I went to the committee last year and I spoke just like this before all their members. And I basically said, "Why is this woman on your committee? somebody who sort of

engages in this behavior, hate speech, doesn't deserve a spot on your committee. And the funny thing is, a few years ago when this all came out, everybody agreed. You know, the board of supervisors, the Middletown Republicans, Bucks County Republicans, everybody couldn't put out a statement fast enough. You know, these words don't represent us. You know, it's whatever. But now, apparently, everything has changed. So, I went to ask Mr. Chapman in his dual role as chair of the Middletown Republicans, what's changed? Why is everything okay now? Why was it not okay a few years ago, but now it's okay? And he didn't really say anything. He said, "Oh, we'll take it up in committee." And since then, I haven't heard a word about it. I've actually had some back channels where people have said, "Hey, we should sit down with you and Mr. Chapman and hate speech late and we could talk this out." And I said, "No, there's nothing to talk about. This woman does not deserve a spot on the public committee and I'd like to know why you're giving cover to someone who engages in this sort of behavior." So, the reason I'm here tonight is to offer Mr. Chapman in his dual role as chair of the Middletown Republicans an opportunity to come down here to the Board of Supervisors meeting in September and explain his position, explain why he hasn't done anything, explain why circumstances have changed and he thinks it's okay to allow the sort of behavior on a committee that he has direct oversight of. Now, the reason I link all these together is because election day is like three months from now and Mr. tax collector is going to be requesting the votes of all 43,000 Middletown residents. And I think it's high time that he comes down here in public on the record and defends his inaction attempt emphasis on attempt to defend the indefensible. Now, I'm glad to see Supervisor Kane here tonight. I know you're friends and colleagues with Mr. Chapman. So, I would appreciate if you could ensure in the off chance that he's not watching that he gets this message and that he knows that he's invited.

In actuality, he's challenged to come down here and make his position known publicly on the record for everyone in this township to see. And that's it. Thank you.

Uh thank you. Any other public comment on non-aggenda items? All right. Seeing none, we will move on to the consent agenda items and they are as follows. Item A, consideration of authorizing payment of the August 11th, 2025 bills list in the amount of $2,419,959. B, consideration of approving the July 14th, 2025 minutes of the public meeting of the Middletown Board of Supervisors. C, consideration of approving change order number one for the North Flowers Mill Drainage Project in the negative of $11,620 for reduced quantities. and D consideration of approving payment certificate number one final for the North Flowers Mill Dra drainage project in the amount of 103,186 and40 cents to James D Morsy Inc. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda items?

I make a motion to approve consent agenda items as read. Thank you, Mr. Corp. Is there a second? Second. Thank you. There's been a motion and a second. Any board questions? Any questions from the public? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. Opposed? Carries 5-0. Next on the agenda, consideration of authorizing a contract with Armor and Suns Electric for purchase and installation of a rectangular rapid flashing beacon pedestrian signal at the intersection of Langghorn Yardley Road and Maple Point Drive. Mr. Val.

Yes. Good evening, supervisors. Um, before you tonight is authorization for the signal components for the what we've affectionately called the Maple Point crossing. This is a pedestrian push button or the technical term is a rectangular rapid flashing beacon. This is just kind of the illuminated crosswalk. Um, if you're familiar, there's one currently in front of Middletown Community Park. This would be located on Langghorn Yardley Road near Maple Point Drive. Uh, the township did receive a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development from the multimmoal transportation fund program uh to the tune of 146,000 and change a couple of years ago. Um, as I mentioned, Armor and Suns is being contracted under a co-stars contract to um purchase and install the signal components. the uh pavement work. There's some curb ramps and pavement markings was authorized as part of the road improvement program as an alternate um back in May. Um I did want to note there is one small um item that was missing from the uh proposal for maintenance and protection of traffic uh that adds about $3,000 and so the total amount before you tonight for consideration um is 133,651.

Any questions for Mr. Valor? Uh, the one question I had that had come up um when I was reviewing is I know that with the building of the elementary school, there's one being put at at Briggs that's being paid for by that construction. Is there a reason why this this intersection wasn't incorporated into that?

Sure. So, even though what you're talking about at Briggs Road coincides with the timing of the elementary school, that is being done as part of Pendot's improvements to Langanger Road. Uh, currently the work that's underway, Langghorni Road from Bridgetown to Woodburn. Uh the project limits of Pendot's work extends pretty much to that Briggs Road crossing and so the Maple Point crossing which is kind of closer in the direction of lower makefield Yardley area is outside of that project limit. So this would be a township improvement. Other questions? I for one am personally uh really pleased to see this project moving along. This is something that uh I know residents in that area have been asking for for a long time. Um, so it's great to see uh great to see it moving forward and glad to hear that uh the project will hopefully be underway soon. So I'm going to make a motion to authorize a contract with Armor and Suns Electric for the purchase and installation of a rectangular rapid flashing beacon pedestrian signal at Langghorn Yardley Road and Maple Point Drive in the amount of $130,373. Is there a second?

I think that it's $651. [Music] 133651 133651. There was an amendment. Got it. 133651. So second. So amended. There's a second. Thank you, Miss Strauss. Any board questions? Any questions from the public? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. Opposed. Carries. 5-0. Thank you, Mr. Valot. And that brings us to an update from our new township manager, Mr. Eden Ratliff, who has finally started to get his legs under him, and we're eager to hear what he has to say about his first approximately month uh at the helm.

Okay. Good evening and thank you very much. My name is Eden Ratliff and I am the new township manager and I find myself in a lot of trouble. It is 7:22 and this is the last item on the agenda. I learned today that we uh don't usually have short agendas and short meetings here and the last thing you want to do is be the last thing kind of standing between everyone and an early night. So, we will try to roll through it. Uh it has been a really fun 30 days. So, I have an agenda here. Uh here are some things I'm going to talk about sort of what I've been doing for the last 30 days. 30-day was Friday, so I guess 31 days. Um some strategic planning stuff. We're going to talk about some priorities of the board of supervisors including the Oxford Valley Mall fire services transparency and then budget development. And then what are we going to do from here? Uh so first things first, it it has been incredible the last 30 days kind of joining this team. uh you know this the township staff here has been super warm, super welcome, uh super open to just welcome me to the team, helping me figure out kind of what's what happening here, kind of where to go, who to meet, who to talk to. Um you know, I said to to Mr. Vala after the first day when he and some others kind of organized this really nice meet and greet, you know, with pastries and the township team, I said, "It's not like this every day, is it?" Uh and he and some others, he's like, "Well, we're not going to have pastries every day. It's kind of bio pastry." He was like, "But people really are this welcoming, this warm, this committed to kind of what they do and doing it as a team." And that's really something special. Um, this is my fifth local government. Uh, and I can tell you it's not like this everywhere. Um, so it's really special to be part of a team with people who really care about not only what they're doing, but who they're doing it with. Um, you know, some people walk around here and say that it feels like a family. And I can appreciate after being here for a month why they feel that way. And I think that's something uh worth preserving. So deeply appreciative to be a part of that um and to work with these fine folks who are really committed to what they do and doing it really well. So for me as I've

kind of entered into a lot of meetings with department directors, some staff, external folks, you know, they'll say things like, "All right, Eden, like what do you want to talk about?" And I'll look them back and say, "Well, what do you want to talk about? Tell me about the township. What's going well? What do you think needs to change? What's something you're really proud of? What's something that if you could do it over again?" You know, it would be that. I think I startled a few people when I said, "Hey, this is really not my meeting. It's it's up to you." And that's allowed me to do a lot of listening, a lot of learning, trying to understand the culture of the municipality. Um, you know, it's a secondass township. There are many throughout Pennsylvania. Uh, there are many kind of in this urban ring around the city of Philadelphia, but they're all different. And so, it's really important, I think, as a leader to understand, you know, what sets Middletown Township apart. um you know what are some of the customs and norms in this township and how does that you know kind of impact what management looks like um kind of moving forward I think you know any leader is making a mistake if they think they're going to come in and make you know big changes and move walls in the first uh you know in the first initial days which I certainly am not going to do uh and then understanding the priorities right understanding the priorities of the board of supervisors to the public that we understand it and then of course to the staff who are full of great ideas so strategic planning um this is something that's come up a lot in different conversations that I think is worth noting. Uh the township has a recently adopted comprehensive plans. It's got a few different master plans that are floating around. Theoretically, those fall off of that comprehensive plan. Uh we're developing an open space trails um and recreation master plan now. You know, so I'm sort of asking the question as are some of our team members and the board and the public should be as well is how does that filter up to the comp plan and how is the comp plan filtering down to some of those things because all of that is going to impact what the capital plan looks like moving forward. and then what resource allocation looks like. So, our staff is probably sick of hearing me say it, uh, but we're I'm going to say it a lot during budget of we have limited resources. How are we going to allocate those in order to kind of accomplish these master plans and accomplish that comprehensive plan? To the board, I'm asking you the same question. It's rhetorical tonight, but it will come up. You'll hear me say it next Monday at our

capital planning meeting, which I hope to see every member of the public there. um you know where where are we going to allocate these resources and to accomplish the priorities of the board of supervisors, the priorities that the staff is informing you of and then ultimately of the public. Um I think this is really important. The last thing we want to be is the government that either a doesn't plan or b takes the time and thoughtful consideration to plan and does nothing with it. If you have a master plan and it sits on a shelf and it just collects dust, we've done ourselves nothing, right? We spent a bunch of money on a plan and we've accomplished nothing. If we're that government that's running from fire to fire to fire and not really backing up to take a look at the landscape to figure out how we want to change that landscape for the future or support the existing landscape, we're really making our jobs a lot harder in the long run. So, the Oxra Valley Mall, this is something we like to talk about, right? Uh, I got a lot of style points with some of our team members when I said that I had a meeting with Simon Properties, uh, like the second week on the job, I think it was, uh, including the vice president for real estate development as well as our mall manager here locally. Uh, and I just said to them, our uh, Middletown Township is interested in partnering with you to understand what the future of the mall property looks like. There's about 100 acres there. There are some box stores as well as other retail there. Um, but kind of understanding what their vision is for that property and how that kind of partners with the board's vision and what the community's vision for what that property could look like. Um, the response I got from them was overwhelmingly positive, right? They believe Middletown's a great place to do business. They think that there's a lot of opportunity here with the disposable income of our community as well as the density that we have in this community that is continuing to grow. Uh, they think that there is opportunity with that property. Uh, so my qu my question to them was great. What do you see the opportunity and how can we support that? you know, what can the board convey to the community to say, "Hey, this is what the largest developer in the world is thinking about for this property. A developer who has a lot of visioning, a lot of success, and a lot of resources to pull into it. What does that partnership look like moving forward?" Uh, so I expect a follow-up conversation here in the coming months to figure out what that looks like. And I've

communicated to them that to the extent that they're interested, kind of making that a community project probably makes sense. And I think that that was warmly received. fire and emergency medical services. The township is supported by four volunteer fire companies and one combination department for EMS uh who the chief is here tonight. Um really doing great work doing great work in the community. We are tremendously grateful and I certainly am tremendously grateful for the volunteers and the career staff both on the township career side as well as the career side in the EMS agency uh who are doing work in this township. This township is busy. There's a lot happening here. People call 911. They never want to. It's the worst day in their lives. There are volunteers and career staff who are committed to responding to that in a professional way. What I have heard is that there are funding needs. There are funding needs in these volunteer companies, in the career company as well um you know in the township uh in the township's career department. As we're looking at the growth of the township, as we're looking at um kind of the demands on volunteers to respond to these emergencies, there are ways that the township has in order to get involved, in order to be able to support some of that. Um, I will say on behalf of the fire companies, responding to fires, responding to emergency medical scenes, responding to any sort of emergency in an urban setting is challenging. In a rural setting, it's completely different. They'll say things like, "We have to go because no one else is coming." Here, they're saying, "We want to get there." But it is so challenging because of everything we have to get through in order to arrive at that scene. It's a completely different challenge that requires a lot of cooperation, a lot of coordination, a lot of training, and a lot of commitment. So I think that there is an opportunity for enhanced regional collaboration with our volunteers and career staff to figure out kind of what the future of the fire service looks like um and how the township can support that. The secondass township code is quite clear that it is our responsibility by statute in order to support uh ALS, BLS and fire service. It's not optional. So success is is not guaranteed but it is our responsibility

and I think that we have a lot of opportunity to continue to enhance this transparency and public engagement. So who pours over our website and I'm asking this to the public to look at the agenda packet for the month anyone? I'm sure there's no hands behind me raised but take a look at it. There is an agenda that we put every month and you'll notice that this month we changed it around and actually published the whole packet. So, while it's in a short agenda, we put a lot more information about what the staff is providing and what our consultants are providing to the board um so that you can follow along with everything that's happening here. It's these types of little things that I think our government has the opportunity to do in order to be a little bit more transparent. I think this is an open and transparent government. I think that there's more that we can do in order to provide information to the public to allow them to understand what the government's up to and how they can engage in the democratic process. Um, uh, some of the things I think that we can do that I've heard some of our team talk about is some public education in terms of like workshops, work sessions, kind of trainings, FAQs on the website, some information, as well as bringing our staff up here to this podium to advise the board about policy issues that the board of supervisors might be considering. There's a lot of expertise behind me. There's a lot of expertise throughout this building, uh, and of course through public works facility offsite. um you know they they've got opinions about things that can happen in the sound shift, great things that they can do and I think it's inherent in us to tap into their expertise to make sure the board can consider that as it's weighing different policy considerations and I'm sure they're all behind me very excited at that opportunity. Right. All right. Cool. That was good. Uh budget development. Uh you heard the the chair announce our first capital planning workshop next Monday. Not exactly sure what that's going to look like, but it will be fun. Uh, building the budget is fun. You'll hear me say it a lot. The the budget is a statement of the board of supervisors priorities for the following year. Uh, that should be consistent with the comprehensive plan and various master plans that we have uh and things that we want to accomplish in the next year. I will say it's going to

be challenging. We have an existing uh deficit in the uh operations of the general fund of about 2.5 million that will grow by a million dollars uh come January 1st. So, we're starting $3.5 million in the wrong direction. Uh the capital plan is not funded solely. Uh so we took $2.5 million out of the investment fund to fund capital projects, which is good. We should be doing capital projects every year. And it's wonderful that we have fund balance and an investment account that can support some of these things. But especially on the operations side, it's going to be inherent for us to have a plan to be able to get to baseline so that we can start doing sort of the creative things that the board of supervisors has in mind uh to make that happen while not worrying about how the operations are funded or if they are funded. So, going to be a challenge, but not one that I think we can't get through. Uh, and then kind of making sure our capital plan is robust and built out. Uh, a lot of things that I've heard that some of our department directors want to accomplish that maybe aren't specifically called out in that capital plan that I think we can sort of address. And then understanding what years 6 through 10 after that first 5-year plan look like to be able to kind of build out, you know, what a funding program looks like. So, next step, so you made it for your through your first 30 days. what happens next. Uh I think it's, you know, working with the board of supervisors, with the department directors, and the public to present a strategic and balanced budget that will be the statement of next year's priorities along with the funding plan to support it. Continue relationship building. My calendar is crazy, which is amazing. Uh having an opportunity to talk to a lot of really great people uh who are doing work or are otherwise passionate about the township. Uh figuring out what some of our immediate priorities are and how they supplement long-term opportunities. organizing the office of the township manager and developing and present a work plan. So what does organizing the office of the township manager mean? Well, the question the my opinion is I can't really do this by myself and I don't have to. I have an amazing assistant township manager uh who has a lot of things that he is working on. So the question is how are he and I going to divide and conquer to be able to accomplish the things that need to

happen operationally and then help the board support its priorities. We'll break that all down into a document which will be a work plan which I'll ultimately present publicly. So I think that is my last slide. So that is 30 days. Um happy to take any questions from the board. [Music] Any questions for Mr. Ratliff? Well, you've been busy. Thank you for sharing. Thank you very much for the opportunity.

Yeah, thank you for sharing with us and with the members of the public uh everything that you've been up to and um what we can expect um as we move forward and uh thank you for everything you've been doing. We look forward to continuing to work together. All right, folks. That brings us to other business, believe it or not. So, I'll start with Mr. Valor.

Thank you very much, Mr. Kizak. Um, two items u loading up on the screen right now. Um, our team did just today prepare approximately 180 letters to the residents of Langghorn Gables. Uh, as we've talked about a few times this setting, uh, there is a major storm water project happening in that neighborhood later this fall. Uh we are inviting the public or specifically the neighbors of uh Langron Gables, but it is a fully open public meeting uh 2 weeks from tomorrow night. So next Monday, we hope to see you for the budget workshop. The Tuesday after that on the 26th, we're having an openhouse uh style meeting from 6:00 to 8:00. Also at the community center to talk specifically about this project. We'll have uh folks from the township engineers office there on site to answer any questions. And there is a direct mailer that went out to anybody who's within about 300 feet of the construction area. So, we hope to see some folks turn out. Uh the other thing that I wanted to announce uh was a big congratulations to our public information officer, Liz Martin, who just welcomed her baby girl last week. Uh and I also wanted to uh congratulate Nicole Tenner from our parks and recreation department who is stepping up uh to cover some uh public information officer duties in her absence.

Thank you, Mr. Valor. Uh, Mr. Sorry, man, I forget your name. Kandari. Kandari. Yeah. Uh, thank you for having me tonight. I do have some plans here for signatures if I could get some after the meeting. Yep. Thank you. Thanks, Mr. Espazito. Uh, just wanted to announce that the board did hold an executive session prior to tonight's meeting to discuss uh litigation matters, real estate, and personnel. And then nothing else. Thank you, Mr. Riff.

Yeah, a couple things. I just want to congratulate the parks and recck department on a successful summer of camp for hundreds of uh hundreds of kiddos around our township uh who had a great summer certainly better one than uh you know than many of us have with lots of uh exciting things that they have packed them. So job well done. I'm sure they're happy it's over but they miss it all the same. Uh also congratulations to the police department on a very successful National Night Out. So I got a chance to go to National Night Out. I didn't realize it's the biggest one in Bucks County. That's like really cool. I mean, you know, a couple thousand people coming through here and and by the way, you know, I sort of asked leading up to it. I said, "Is there anything I can do to support?" They're like, "Eden, we we got it." Like, "This is old hat. We're like really good at this." They didn't say that, but that was my perspective. They're very good at this. Uh they make it happen and that certainly shows. So, congratulations to them. Um we uh have an unfortunate resignation. You know, you sort of have mixed feelings about it. Miss Ashley Casey is taking an exciting career opportunity elsewhere in Bucks County. Uh Ashley is the executive assistant in the township manager's office and she is wicked good at it. Right. It was really easy for me to transition and get super organized because she had it all figured out. Uh Ashley, we will certainly miss you, but we're really appreciative of the year years of service to Middletown Township. We know how much you care about it. Uh it won't be the same without you, but we'll be cheering you on. Uh and lastly, we have the retirement of our fire chief, Don Harris, uh who had over three decades of commitment to the fire service in a professional capacity. He brought a lot of leadership to this township. Um, you know, super super sad to see him go, but super excited for him to continue his recreational softball career. Um, certainly well-earned. Um, I know the guys miss him on the truck and out in the streets, and I know he misses us as well, but super excited for him. So, congratulations to Don. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Riff. Uh, Miss Corpal. Um, I just wanted to say I was able to go to National Night Out as well, and it was um very well attended as usual, and they always do a fantastic job. It was nice to have that. Miss Strauss, nothing. Thank you. Miss Kane, nothing further. Miss Hannah, um, thank you, Ashley, for all that you've done for us. Um, and also, um, it was a great National Night Out, well turnout, and I swear we see uh, Miss Tener everywhere now.

Thank you, Miss Hannah. And I'll just uh echo the sentiments that everybody else shared uh regarding Liz, congratulations. Uh Don, congratulations. We wish you all the best. And Ashley, we are really going to miss you. Um it is not going to be the same without you, but um you know, as as Eden said, we're we're going to be cheering you on and we wish you and your family nothing but the best and thank you for everything that you've given to to the community, to Middletown Township. We we really appreciate it. All right. And with that, I will accept a motion to adjurnn. So moved. Is there a second? Second. Thanks everybody.