The East Marlborough Township Board of Supervisors has approved the appointment of Hannah Christopher to serve as interim township manager.

The appointment, which was made at a township meeting on Dec. 2, was made necessary when former township manager Laurie Prysock resigned to take a position with the Horn Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Delaware.

The supervisors also formally announced the opening for the township manager position and will be interviewing at least six applicants, according to Christopher.

Christopher, who has been employed in the office of East Marlborough for years, said she has not placed her name on the list of applicants for the position. She stated in an interview after the meeting, however, that she has found great satisfaction and pleasure in serving as manager in just the short weeks she has occupied the job.

“I’m trying to do the best I can do. I’ve been here for 16 years, and I’m filling in until they find a suitable replacement,” Christopher said.

In addition to the action taken regarding the township manager position, the supervisors also said farewell to board members Richard “Buzz” Hannum and Bruce Jameson. In this year’s municipal election, Hannum chose not to run for another term, and Jameson was defeated by Kathryn Monahan, a Democrat. In the election, John Sarro, the chairman of the board of supervisors, was re-elected to his seat as well.

The board also unanimously approved a balanced budget of $2,998,966.51 with no new taxes for 2020.

The major anticipated income sources (rounded off to tens of thousands) are listed as $730.0 thousand for real estate taxes, $303.8 thousand for property tax transfer, $140.0 thousand for building permits and $260.0 thousand for engineering and legal services provided.

The major anticipated expense items are $100.0 thousand for manager salary, $125.0 thousand for legal fees, $100.0 thousand for police chief salary, $272.6 thousand for public works salaries, and $381.0 thousand for a year-end carryover.

Absent in the budget approval is a $180,900 contribution for the construction of a new Kennett Library. Christopher said that topic is still under discussion.

In a topic that has been under study for several months, the board elected to spend $13,245 for new LED streetlights. Most of those lights, said Sarro in a previous meeting, are in the Unionville area of the township.