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Upper Makefield reorganizes for 2026; Ben Weldon elected chair, appointments and contracts approved
Summary
At its Jan. 5 reorganization meeting, the Upper Makefield Township Board of Supervisors elected Ben Weldon chair, named Elizabeth Thompson treasurer and appointed Rick Ibora interim auditor. The board approved manager/consultant appointments, several escrow releases and a water-tank maintenance change order that uses an underwater drone.
The Upper Makefield Township Board of Supervisors held its reorganization meeting on Jan. 5, 2026, electing Ben Weldon as chair and approving a slate of officer appointments, consultant hires and routine municipal motions.
Ben Weldon, nominated and elected by voice vote, said the board will focus this year on "the two major public safety issues we've been faced with: mitigating our storm water problems and demanding accountability for our residents from Sonokco," and stressed ensuring residents "have access to clean drinking water, soil, and air." The board also noted plans to support grant-funded streetscape work tied to this year's Washington Crossing bicentennial commemorations.
The meeting included a series of oaths of office administered by Judge Michael Puchi. John Romano was sworn in as auditor, Richard Croman as tax collector, Elizabeth Thompson as supervisor and Rick Ibora as interim elected auditor through Dec. 31, 2027. The board set the treasurer's bond at $1 million.
Several supervisory positions and liaisons were assigned: Bronn (Brawn) Taylor was elected vice chair; Elizabeth Thompson was appointed township treasurer for the year; and supervisors were designated as liaisons to planning, parks and recreation, historical commissions, police, schools and other advisory bodies.
The board approved manager and consultant appointments including Greg Schuster as township manager and related roles, Judy Caparicio as assistant manager, Gilmore Associates as township engineer and CKS Engineers as the water and sewer engineer. The appointments were presented and approved by motion.
On financial and routine business, the board approved minutes for Dec. 2, 2025, and a bills-payable listing dated Jan. 6, 2025, in the amount of $45,913.30. The board authorized township deposits with several financial institutions (First National Bank of New Town, Penn Community Bank, PLGIT and Argent Institutional Trust Company) and set the 2026 mileage reimbursement rate at the IRS-designated 72.5 cents per mile.
The board approved multiple resolutions: 2026-01 (Bucks County tax collection committee delegates), 2026-02 (authorization of certain operating disbursements), 2026-03 (authorizing bank signatures) and 2026-04 (minor clerical updates to the Right-to-Know policy) after the township manager presented the Right-to-Know revisions.
On development and maintenance matters, the board approved escrow release requests for 439 West Brownsburg Road (final release of $154,854.25 contingent on an 18-month maintenance bond of $26,914.88) and an escrow release for the Kookski/Kooki Ranch subdivision as recommended by the engineer. It also approved a superseding elevator maintenance agreement that switches police department service from monthly to quarterly, and it approved change order number one for water storage tank maintenance that reduces cost by using an underwater drone for inspection rather than draining the tank.
Public comment at the start of the meeting included several residents offering congratulations to newly sworn officials. Sarah Baker told the board she appreciated Thompson's commitment to "listening to each and every one of us and putting the residents and our community first." Other residents who spoke included Priscilla London, Ron Smallow, Cheryl Ricker and Chelsea Patil.
The board set its regular 2026 meeting dates for the third Tuesday of each month (a change from the previous first-Tuesday schedule) and announced the next board meeting for Jan. 20, 2026. The meeting adjourned after no further public comment.
The board took no litigation or executive-session actions during the meeting; most votes were recorded verbally as "I" in favor on the record, and the transcript did not include a roll-call tally by name.
Next steps: implementation of the appointments, oversight of the water and infrastructure maintenance work and follow-up on the township's continuing response to the pipeline leak noted in board remarks.
