Letter to the Editor: Friends Group is Fiscally Responsible

To the Editor:

Friends for Protection of Lower Macungie Township takes our responsibility of handling donations from the community very seriously. To date we've raised more than $20,000, mostly in small donations from more than 50 community members through events and online.

This is why we are challenging what we believe to be unnecessary fees billed to the appellants by the township. We will continue our policy of vigorously vetting all bills before authorizing any expenditure of money we collect. We owe this to the members of the community whom trust us to administer the legal fund on behalf of the residents.

All contributions collected are used solely to underwrite legal costs of the appellants in appeal procedures.

Further, we believe the challenging of these fees will have a positive outcome not just for appellants in this case but for any citizen that has gone in front of the Zoning Hearing Board and may have been charged fees that are unnecessary according to the Municipal Planning Code.

The specifics:

Our $5,700 billing dispute is about the cost of taking detailed minutes for our lengthy zoning hearing board appeal last year. The township has an unwritten policy of expecting appellants to pay for the minute-taking "in lieu of" paying for the expensive transcription of the stenographer notes.

However, stenographer notes do not have to be transcribed unless the zoning board's decision is appealed, which it was not. Therefore, the township policy is demanding payment for minute-taking in lieu of something (stenographer transcription) that is not required.

The state Municipalities Planning Code, which regulates zoning matters, says that zoning boards can bill for "necessary" administrative costs. Detailed minute taking is not necessary for zoning appeals. Minutes are hearsay and cannot be used in court or by the board to make its decision. The stenographer's transcribed notes are the only official record of the hearing.

The township solicitor approached two "friends" steering committee members during the May 3 Board of Commissioners meeting to work out payment options. We were unable to respond at the time since no expenditure of collected money is ever authorized without a meeting and approval by majority vote of our full board [which met on Sunday].

Ron Beitler, Chair, Friends LMT on behalf of the steering committee

Scott Bieber

Kathryn Dixon

Percy Dougherty

Ann Friedenheim

Jane Fretz

Rob Hamill

Anthony Rodale

Bob Rust

Mark Spengler

Sandy Beldon