WHITEHALL — Whitehall Township supervisor Arnold Erb thanked his colleagues and the community for the chance to serve as supervisor over the last four years at the end of Monday's regular board meeting.
Erb was elected in 2020 when he defeated Democrat Paul Stark at that years' ballot box. His term ends at the end of the year and he is not seeking re-election. Township trustee Dennis Kroll, who like Erb is registered as a Republican, is running unopposed for the supervisor position. Kroll in turn thanked Erb for his time on the board and noted that it's been mostly a smooth four years with them serving together.
In board business, several items were discussed, although the only official votes taken were to pay regular bills. The board briefly discussed an update for assessor Kelli Navarro's computer, a recommendation made by CatchMark Technologies. The board considered whether the upgrade was necessary and ultimately voted 5-0 to table the idea for next month's meeting to determine the urgency of the need and whether it could be fit into the current year's budget. Later, during public comment, Steve Dufort, who said he works with computers, recalled the board had said the computer runs the Windows 7 operating system. He offered that Microsoft stopped supporting Windows 7 five years ago, so any Internet-enabled computer running that OS would be vulnerable to cyberattacks. He recommended an upgrade as soon as possible if Navarro regularly connects to the Internet.
The township also discussed activities of the pickleball committee. The committee has been in contact with the township on what it would like to accomplish next year, including working with area school districts to set up classes for students who would like to learn the game. The board also approved using the fund it's running for the pickleball club to pay the bills for recent landscaping work that was done at the Whitehall Township park.
Erb noted that the Silver Creek Road water main project is on schedule, with plans for it to be done by the winter. There will be a similar project on Mill Pond Trail next spring.
Township treasurer Madge Kraai gave the planning commission report and said the commission is continuing to work through various topics regarding the proposed planned unit development (PUD) in the township. The PUD's working title is Hickory Knoll, though it has no relationship to the nearby golf course of the same name.
