By Chris Barber
Contributing Writer

Jakob Moore took his place at the supervisors’ table on the occasion of the Penn Township reorganization meeting on Jan. 5. District Judge Matt Seavey performed the swearing in.

Moore, who ran as a Republican, was elected to the board in the November 2025 general election. He earned 1116 votes, placing him second to Vic Mantegna, who earned 1447 votes and led the ticket in the contest for two seats.

Moore replaces John Baker, who did not run for re-election.

Moore out-polled Don Slesinski, who ran third with 1083 votes. 

During the reorganization meeting, Mantegna was re-elected as the chairman of the Board of Supervisors and incumbent Wm. “Radar” O’Connell was elected vice chairman of the board.

In the course of the regular monthly meeting which followed, the board approved payment of the bill from the West Grove Fire Company, which serves the township.

Mantegna announced that there was a 10-percent increase in the costs from last year, with the bill of $253,588 for fire coverage and $253,588 for ambulance service.

In the light of the coming merger of Avondale and West Grove fire companies, Mantegna proposed that a contract between the township and the fire company be established so they can anticipate in advance how much they will pay.

Karen Versuk, the township’s director of operations, announced that residents can have their Christmas trees picked up by the township’s public works team by placing the trees in their driveway from Monday, Jan. 12 through Thursday, Jan. 15. Versuk said that, for the first time, the trees are being contributed to a farmer whose goats are consuming them.

She added that the township will have an event for Easter Bunny photos on Saturday, March 21.

Versuk also announced that the new township book is being prepared. It can be purchased, but it is also being given to new residents who move to Penn Township. She said that they have not yet settled on a publisher, but that the book will have a soft cover, and there will be 250 copies of them printed.

Penn Township has run out of copies of the previous book.

During a resident dialogue following the business meeting, the topic of attracting more residents to attend or follow meetings was addressed. Versuk said she will not have the meetings recorded because of the excessive cost of production and editing.