Hampton Township swears in council, elects Carolyn Johnson president and approves $1.5M short-term loan

Hampton Township Council convened its reorganization meeting on Jan. 5, 2026, swore in newly elected members and selected its leadership for the year, then moved through committee appointments and a finance resolution.

Magisterial District Judge Tom Swan administered the oath of office to Bethany Blackburn, Julie Fritch and Carolyn Johnson, who each repeated the oath to support and defend the constitutions of the United States and the Commonwealth and to discharge township duties with fidelity. "Do solemnly swear…that I will support, obey, and defend the constitution of the United States and the constitution of this commonwealth," Swan said while administering the oath.

Shortly after roll call, the council opened nominations for president. An unnamed councilmember nominated Doctor Carolyn Johnson; after a second and a roll-call vote, members recorded favoring the nomination and elected Johnson as council president. Council then nominated and elected Bethany Blackburn as vice president by roll-call vote.

The council approved its 2026 meeting schedule, keeping the typical second and fourth Wednesdays monthly and adjusting November and December dates to avoid holiday conflicts (proposed Nov. 4 and Nov. 18; December dates adjusted as discussed).

Council accepted committee and organization appointments largely unchanged from the prior year but corrected several item labels in the agenda. Members noted that the entry listed as "Hampton Athletic Association" should read "Sports Advisory Board" and that the "business roundtable" listing is actually the "Economic Advisory Board." Council voted to accept the committee listings with those corrections.

A series of reappointments to township boards and authorities were approved. Council tabled a vacancy on the Planning Commission vacated by Jeffrey Bowman and said it will solicit applications and interview candidates before making an appointment. The council approved the reappointment of a UCC Board of Appeals member (transcript shows the name as both "Ron Deems" and later as "Ron Eanes"), reappointed Gina Moser to the Zoning Hearing Board for a five-year term, and tabled an alternate-member vacancy pending further candidates. Chris Lochner was reappointed to the Hampton Shaler Water Authority for a five-year term, and Bethany Blackburn was reappointed to the Shaler-Hampton EMS board for a three-year term.

The Environmental Advisory Council saw two reappointments: Jane Hallinan (listed earlier in the transcript also as "Jan Hallinan") and John Hegastad were reappointed to three-year terms; two EAC vacancies will be tabled until that board's reorganization meeting and any interested candidates are identified.

On finance, the council adopted Resolution No. 1121 to award a 2026 tax-and-revenue anticipation note to First National Bank (FNB). The resolution describes the note as a $1.5 million borrowing; the council-recorded interest rate on the award was 3.4%. The motion to adopt Resolution 1121 passed on a roll-call vote with one abstention by Mister Scholey.

Votes at a glance: - Elect Carolyn Johnson, council president — motion carried (recorded roll-call favor votes). - Elect Bethany Blackburn, vice president — motion carried (recorded roll-call favor votes). - Adopt 2026 meeting schedule — motion carried (recorded roll-call favor votes). - Accept committee and organization appointments (with corrected board names) — motion carried. - Table Planning Commission vacancy (Jeffrey Bowman seat) — motion carried. - Reappoint UCC Board of Appeals member (name inconsistent in transcript: "Ron Deems" / "Ron Eanes") — motion carried. - Reappoint Gina Moser, Zoning Hearing Board — motion carried. - Table Zoning Hearing Board alternate vacancy — motion carried. - Reappoint Chris Lochner, Hampton Shaler Water Authority — motion carried. - Reappoint Bethany Blackburn, Shaler-Hampton EMS — motion carried. - Reappoint Jane ("Jan") Hallinan and John Hegastad, Environmental Advisory Council — motion carried; EAC vacancies tabled. - Adopt Resolution 1121 (award $1.5M TAN to First National Bank at 3.4%) — motion carried; Mister Scholey abstained.

The meeting ran about 21 minutes and concluded with no additional business noted. Several items were explicitly tabled for later action pending candidate recruitment or the EAC reorganization meeting.

Note on transcript inconsistencies: the meeting transcript contains differing spellings for several names and entities (examples: the UCC appointee is shown as both "Ron Deems" and "Ron Eanes"; Hallinan appears as both "Jan" and "Jane"; the agenda item names for advisory groups appear with swapped orderings such as "Hampton Shaler Water Authority" and "Shaler Hampton EMS"). The article reports those names as they appear in the transcript and flags them for verification with township records.