The Penn Township Board of Supervisors began the year with a reorganization meeting. The supervisors selected Victor Mantegna as the new chairman of the board of supervisors. He takes the place of Curtis Mason, who served as chairman for 22 years, and will now continue to be a vital part of the board as a member. Now serving in Mantegna’s prior place as vice-chair is supervisor William “Radar” O’Connell.

“I’m honored and I know I’ll serve the township well,” Mantegna said after the meeting.

A recent emergency has the township taking a new look at emergency management plan details.

On Christmas morning, a gas leak was detected at the Ovations development clubhouse. Normally, the clubhouse is the evacuation point if there is an emergency situation in the area. In this case the affected residents were sent to the township building meeting room while repairs were made.

“There has to be a back-up to everything, too,” Mantegna said. 

Township Director of Operations Karen Versuk suggested working with the emergency management coordinator to be sure that plans are current. “It bears looking at again so everyone is on the same page,” she said. 

The first snowstorm of the season was handled well overall, but there were some areas with issues. “It posed some challenges,” Mantegna said. 

The township has discussed with snow removal contractors the areas that are in need of improvement next time, but residents need to be part of the solution as well. Some roads in developments did not get plowed because of cars parked on roadways and cul de sacs. 

If there are cars parked on the roadsides, the alternatives are to not plow the road, plow in the cars going as close to them as possible, or have the vehicles towed. 

Work continues at the historic Red Rose Inn, with the board affirming they will go forward with the installation of storm windows over the vintage windows. All windows will be covered with the exception of the third floor and the front windows under the porch. The porch windows will remain as they are, however the board will be seeking bids to repaint those windows and the front door. Even though the wood work was recently painted, the supervisors are not satisfied with the quality of the job.