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Williams Township elects officers, confirms professional and board appointments at annual reorganization
Summary
At its Jan. 6 reorganization meeting, the Williams Township Board of Supervisors elected George Washburn as chair, Raymond Abert as vice chair, appointed Melody Ernst as manager and confirmed a slate of professional and citizen board appointments; a number of votes were unanimous while two recreation appointments recorded abstentions with conflict forms to be filed.
The Williams Township Board of Supervisors held its annual reorganization meeting Jan. 6, 2025, at township offices in Easton, electing George Washburn as chair and Raymond Abert as vice chair and confirming a slate of professional and citizen board appointees.
Chairperson George Washburn opened the meeting at 7:00 p.m. and, by motion and second, the board appointed Colby Grim as temporary chair to facilitate the reorganization. The board then approved the slate of officers: George Washburn (Chair), Raymond Abert (Vice Chair), Melody Ernst (Manager/Assistant Treasurer) and Hannah Warner (Secretary/Treasurer); motions and seconds were recorded and each motion carried 3-0.
The board adopted its professional appointments for 2025, approving Grim, Biehn & Thatcher as township solicitor; Collier’s Engineering & Design, represented by Ronald B. Madison, P.E., as township engineer; Suzanne Borzak as zoning officer; Keycodes Inspection Agency as the building code office and third-party inspections provider; Riley and Company as township auditor; Joseph Black as landfill and Sewage Enforcement Officer (with Ed Powell named alternate); Campbell Durrant, PC as labor solicitor; Natural Lands Trust for municipal conservation services; and Heritage Conservancy for resource protection and planning. Michael Bryant moved to approve the professional appointments; the motion carried 3-0.
The board also filled several citizen board seats. Matthew Donovan was named to the Planning Commission; Eric Jones was named to the Zoning Hearing Board with an alternate vacancy remaining; Judith Abert and Greg Washburn were appointed to the Recreation Board. The two Recreation Board appointments each passed by 2-0 votes with abstentions: Ray Abert abstained on the appointment of Judith Abert and will file a conflict-of-interest form for the minutes; George Washburn abstained on the appointment of Greg Washburn and will also file a conflict-of-interest form.
Other routine reorganization actions approved included Resolution 2025-1, designation of township depositories (Embassy Bank, Fulton Bank and PLGIT), and the appointment of Melody Ernst as the PSATS voting delegate. The board approved Resolution 2025-2 setting the compensation of Township Manager Melody Ernst. All votes and motions recorded in the reorganization segment were carried as announced by the chair.
The reorganization meeting concluded at 7:12 p.m.
Why it matters: Annual reorganizations set the township’s leadership and identify the professional advisers and board members who will handle planning, zoning and fiscal oversight for the year. Noted abstentions were recorded where supervisors had apparent conflicts and will be documented in the minutes.
