Springfield supervisors swear in Worcester, approve slate of officers, appointments and resolutions

Charles Worcester was sworn in and the Springfield Township Board of Supervisors quickly adopted a slate of officer elections, committee appointments and administrative resolutions at its annual organizational meeting.

Judge Todd Platts administered the oath of office to "the newly reelected supervisor Charles Worcester," after which the board called the meeting to order and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. A brief public-comment period produced no speakers.

In short votes, the board elected Mark Swanley chairman, George Dvorak vice chairman and Charles Worcester assistant secretary-treasurer. The board confirmed that all members would serve as delegates to the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors annual convention and reaffirmed Worcester as the voting delegate.

The board adopted a package of resolutions to name legal and technical advisors. Resolution 2024-01 appointed MPL Law Firm LLP, James R. Sanders, Esquire, as township solicitor; Resolution 2024-02 named Campbell Durant PC and Patrick J. Harvey as personnel and labor counsel. First Capital Engineering (John Musiani, PE) and Diana Young, PE, were appointed under Resolutions 2024-03 and 2024-04 respectively for civil and environmental engineering services. South Penn Code Consultants LLC and John Luciani, PE, were designated sewage enforcement officer and alternate under Resolution 2024-10.

The board also filled internal positions and committee seats: Dory Bowers was appointed township secretary (Resolution 2024-05); Teresa (Terry) Hummel was appointed treasurer (Resolution 2024-06); Jeffrey Lobach, Esquire, was named vacancy board chair (Resolution 2024-07); and Mark Hodgkinson was appointed chief administrative officer for both the nonuniform employee pension fund and the police pension fund (Resolutions 2024-08 and 2024-09). The board approved numerous representative appointments to regional bodies, including a representative to the York Adams Tax Bureau, a representative to the Springsbury Township Volunteer Fire Company (Robert Cox) and representatives to the York Area United Fire & Rescue Commission.

A notable discussion occurred before the board adopted Resolution 2024-18 reappointing members to the historic preservation committee. An unidentified board member raised that "we received a letter from an attorney for a developer in our community, who had some rather uncomplimentary things to say about two people that are on our various boards." A colleague said they had spoken with one person named in the letter and "got his side of the story, which was slightly different than what the letter stated." The board reported consulting the township solicitor and noted that recusal is a personal decision; one board member said their "understanding was that that he has agreed to do that" (recuse). After that exchange the board adopted the historic preservation appointments by voice vote.

On finance and administration, the board established a treasurer bond of $3,000,000 (Resolution 2024-21), approved bank account signatories (Resolution 2024-22) with one abstention recorded because the member serves as an officer at one of the depositories, and designated depositories under Resolution 2024-23. The board adopted Resolution 2024-24 setting the township manager salary as stated in the record: "$20.24"; the record does not specify whether that figure is hourly, monthly or annual.

The board appointed Smith Elliott Kearns & Company LLC to audit township funds for the fiscal years ending Dec. 31, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2024 (Resolution 2024-25). The board also accepted a write-in auditor, William Shank, who had been overseas at the signature deadline but emailed acceptance; the board agreed to inform the county elections office that it accepts Shank's late paperwork and approved a motion to accept him as the elected auditor.

The supervisors adjourned and the evening included short reorganizations for the police pension board and the development authority. The police pension board confirmed township supervisors as pension board members, appointed Detective Tessa Miller and Corporal Alex Shrift as police representatives and reapproved officers (chairman Mark Swanley, vice chairman George Dvorak, secretary Charles Worcester). The development authority likewise approved a slate of officers and additional personnel, including solicitor James R. Sanders and engineer John Luciani.

Votes at a glance (outcomes as recorded in the meeting):
- Election of Mark Swanley, chairman — approved by voice vote.
- Election of George Dvorak, vice chairman — approved by voice vote.
- Election of Charles Worcester, assistant secretary-treasurer — approved by voice vote.
- Resolution 2024-01 (Solicitor: MPL Law Firm LLP, James R. Sanders) — approved.
- Resolution 2024-02 (Personnel/Labor counsel: Campbell Durant PC, Patrick J. Harvey) — approved.
- Resolution 2024-03 (Civil engineer: First Capital Engineering, John Musiani, PE) — approved.
- Resolution 2024-04 (Environmental engineer: Diana Young, PE) — approved.
- Resolution 2024-05 (Township secretary: Dory Bowers) — approved.
- Resolution 2024-06 (Township treasurer: Teresa Hummel) — approved.
- Resolution 2024-07 (Vacancy board chair: Jeffrey Lobach, Esquire) — approved.
- Resolution 2024-08 & 2024-09 (Pension chief administrative officer: Mark Hodgkinson) — approved.
- Resolution 2024-10 (Sewage enforcement officer: South Penn Code Consultants LLC; alternate: John Luciani, PE) — approved.
- Resolution 2024-11 (Tax bureau rep: Teresa Hummel) — approved.
- Resolution 2024-12 (Fire company rep: Robert Cox) — approved.
- Resolution 2024-13 (York Area United Fire & Rescue reps: Don Bishop; citizen at large: Mark Swanley) — approved.
- Resolution 2024-14 (Local government advisory committee rep: Randall Holman) — approved.
- Resolution 2024-15 (Planning commission: Timothy Staub, Charles Stuhr) — approved.
- Resolution 2024-16 (Zoning hearing board: Mark Baer; alternate: Brian Kaufman) — approved.
- Resolution 2024-17 (Parks & Recreation: Steven Wolf) — approved.
- Resolution 2024-18 (Historic preservation committee appointments) — approved after discussion about a developer attorney letter and recusal.
- Resolution 2024-19 (Zoning officer: John Luciani; deputy: Benjamin McHugh) — approved.
- Resolution 2024-20 (Building official: Ray Markey Jr.; deputy: First Capital Engineering) — approved.
- Resolution 2024-21 (Treasurer bond: $3,000,000) — approved.
- Resolution 2024-22 (Bank account signatories) — approved (one abstention noted).
- Resolution 2024-23 (Designation of depositories) — approved.
- Resolution 2024-24 (Township manager salary as stated: "$20.24") — approved.
- Resolution 2024-25 (Audit firm: Smith Elliott Kearns & Company LLC) — approved.
- Appointment of write-in auditor William Shank (late paperwork accepted) — approved.

What happens next: The board's appointments and resolutions are effective as recorded; staff is expected to communicate acceptance of the write-in auditor to the county elections office and proceed with administrative follow-ups. The meeting adjourned after the development authority completed its reorganization.

(Reporting note: quotations and procedural details are drawn directly from the meeting record. Where the record used variant spellings of individualsnames, this article uses the standardized forms identified in the meeting record and clarifies inconsistencies below.)