Acting Interim Township Manager Steps Down From Newtown Planning Commission, Former Planning Member Appointed

NEWTOWN SQUARE–With a fairly new makeup for 's administration, more changes were seen with a few appointments made at a Board of Supervisors meeting on June 13. But first, acting interim township Manager Mike Trio announced his resignation from the township's Planning Commission.

"In the interest of continuity, I thought I'd resign and fill the position now," explained Trio, who was on June 1, about filling his position on the Planning Commission. 

At the last meeting, a concern was raised about Trio's dual position as vice chairman of the Planning Commission and his new position as the acting interim manager for the town. 

"To deter any concern from the public, I thought it would be a good time to go ahead and do that," said Trio. 

Trio was reappointed on the Planning Commission for another four-year term in January. Trio said he would recommend former planning members, "who would be aware of the planning modules," to fill his seat.

Supervisors Chairman Joseph Catania pointed out former planning member John Nawn, who was sitting in the audience, and brought his name to the table for consideration from the board. Trio believed having Nawn back on the commission would be beneficial for the township in terms of costs and experience.

"As part of our review of budgets and our review of costs, one of the reasons it's helpful to have a professional engineer's eyeballs on the plans is that way you don't have to have an engineer." commented Trio. "We're looking at budget issues where you can save some money on professional services, so I think we have expertise on the board that would allow us not to have an engineer."

Catania made a motion to accept Trio's resignation and to appoint Nawn to fill the remainder of Trio's term on the Planning Commission. The motion was seconded by Supervisor Ed Partridge. The motion carried 3-1 with Supervisor Linda Houldin as the lone nay to which Catania said, "that's no surprise" about her vote. Supervisor George Wood was not present at Monday night's evening.

Nawn, who was recently recognized as this year's engineer of the year by the Delco Chapter of the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers, said he was happy to be back on the commission.

"I served for four years and wasn't reappointed but I'm glad to be back," Nawn commented after the meeting.

Another appointment was approved 3-1, again, motioned by Catania and seconded by Lambert with Houldin holding the lone nay for the approval of Newtown resident Larry Fischer as a special assistant to the township manager. 

Both Catania and Supervisor Dr. Ross Lambert previously showed their favor for Fischer, highlighting his consistent attendance to the meetings and his knowledge with the township's budget. 

"Larry has been a tremendous help," commented Lambert. "For those of you who don't know the history of Larry, Larry has been coming to the township meetings for a number of years and very, very knowledgeable on the budget, and very, very knowledgeable on the operation of the township."

Fischer is needed much more now than he will be and is averaging at about 24 hours a week, said Trio. Fischer's position will not exceed 200 total hours in his position.

"He's been a great help in this turnover...in this transitional period. So that might be slightly higher in this point of time," explained Trio about Fischer's hours.

According to Trio, Fischer's position will be part-time and will be paid at a rate of $30 per hour. 

Houldin, who voted against Fischer's appointment, said, "I just think $30 an hour is kind of steep."

Before on the board, Fischer had submitted his to fill  the seat.