Newtown Township Municipal Authority July Meeting

As with all public meetings in Newtown Township, the Municipal Authority meetings are recorded.  I believe that this is to ensure that the business that takes place is properly noted and that the tax paying public has some assurance about the veracity of minutes that are produced from the meeting.  At the start of this month's Municipal Authority meeting, the members could not find a blank tape with which to record the meeting. Yes, although hard to believe in this era of digital recording, Newtown's pubic meetings are recorded on cassette tapes.  That way, all too frequently, there is a problem with the tape or it goes missing.  And, with the township manager on vacation, the Municipal Authority Board had no access to the township offices to retrieve a tape.  They never did find a tape and did not record the meeting.  I expressed my concern about this at the meeting.  I was told that with all members present, they were sure to record information accurately.

Well, I guess they could have recorded information properly, except here is an email I received about one of the motions voted on at the meeting.  It was written by Mark Caldwell, a member and secretary for the Municipal Authority, to all members of the Board:

"Hello All, Let's go with this wording for the motion. I rearranged the last portion some - same intent/meaning. Let me know if you have comments. Any Construction requires Planning and Zoning Approvals (if applicable) and a Building Permit prior to application for a Sewer Connection Permit.  Escrow may be required in advance for Legal and Engineering fees.
Thanks,Mark"

Seriously, Mark doesn't realize that you can't change a motion after it has been voted on at a public meeting?

In addition to the tape snafu, since the Municipal Authority Board could not gain access to the Township offices, midway through the meeting, they called for an Executive Session.  And then Joe Sweeney, Municipal Authority Chairman, promptly told the tax paying members of the audience that they would have to leave the room to go outside.  So, outside we went, to the dark of night and bug bites.  Rather than stay outside, I decided to go back into the building and waited outside the meeting room.  Because the doors to the meeting room are not sound-proofed, nor do they close tightly, as I was sitting there, I could not help by hear part of the conversation of the Board. Imagine my surprise when the discussion was not about litigation.  Maybe the Board, in addition to not knowing about rewriting motions after-the-fact, does not know the Sunshine Law which aims to ensure that governing occurs in public.

Makes me wonder, what other than litigation issues, in the view of the authority needed to be discussed privately? 

In other business at the meeting, the Municipal Authority Chair reported that an audit of Municipal Authority finances is currently taking place. Maybe taxpayers will finally get an explanation as to how the Municipal Authority went from almost $800,000 in cash in March, 2009 to $22,713.31 in cash reported at this July 2012 meeting.  This during a period of years in which the Municipal Authority did no sewage facilities construction.  Where did the money go??

In a prior meeting, the Muncipal Authoritys' lack of insurance coverage was a topic of discussion. It never got back on the agenda so I asked for a status.  At this meeting, they reported that the Municipal Authority Board Members were covered by the Township's Insurance Plan.  As an independent authority, I questioned how this could be possible. It seemed to me that noone on the Board thought to ask the same questions and it is still unclear what insurance coverage, if any, exists for the Board Members or the Municipal Authority assets.