Officials: End retired secretary’s health insurance

Feb. 21--DANVILLE -- Township supervisors voted Monday to pursue legal action in common pleas court to no longer pay for health insurance for former township supervisor and secretary-treasurer Christine DeLong.

Solicitor Ryan Tira said he didn't want to get into too many specifics because of the pending litigation, but he said the township also would try to get back the money it has paid for DeLong's health insurance since she retired as secretary-treasurer in July.

DeLong was secretary-treasurer for more than 20 years and also simultaneously served as a supervisor for 18 years before losing to Bill Lynn in the 2015 primary. As a supervisor, she had been criticized for months by residents, who said she didn't answer their questions and wasn't forthcoming with information on the budget and other issues. They also had been critical of her combined salary and insurance differential of $82,272 a year.

The township pays $1,100 per month for DeLong's health insurance.

Officials would not say specifically why they wanted to end the payments. Tira only would say, "It's in the best interest of the township to seek court of common pleas legal action."

When a resident asked about DeLong's retirement, township Treasurer Ken Houck said she receives that through the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System, to which she and the township contributed when she was working.

"It's part of what she paid in to it," Houck said. "It's not costing the township now."

In other business, township Tax Collector Marlene Gunther and other residents questioned a proposal by Supervisors T.S. Scott and Bill Lynn to hire two part-timers for the newly formed water and sewer department. Supervisor Chairman Ken Woodruff opposed the part-time hires -- an on-call consultant who could back up operator Bret LeVan and a secretary -- because, like some of the residents at the meeting, he questioned why the hirings weren't discussed at last week's work session.

"I think we're moving too fast," Woodruff said. "I don't think it's an emergency situation. We should discuss it with the people to give them a chance to digest it."

But Scott and Lynn said it was an emergency situation, because Houck and Township Secretary Joe Oberdorf, who are both part-time, need help in the office. The consultant, Don Shobert, a retired Danville borough sewer plant superintendent, would back LeVan only if needed and help the township with Danville's lawsuit against the township, which alleges the former municipal authority under-reported its sewage flow rates to Danville's sewer plant.

"If we don't do this, we're going to be looking for a new secretary and treasurer," Lynn said.

After the supervisors approved a formal four-year contract for LeVan, who was operator for the municipal authority before the supervisors dissolved it and formed the water and sewer department, Scott and Lynn voted to hire Shobert as consultant and Chris Donato as secretary, both at $25 per hour. Woodruff voted no on both.

When some asked if the secretary position was advertised, Lynn replied the supervisors didn't have to because it was an emergency situation. He said there were two candidates for the job, but Donato was more qualified.

Email comments to jsylvester@thedanvillenews.com. Follow Sylvester on Twitter @JoepSylvester

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