New police contract OK’d

A new four-year contract with the township’s police officers, covering 2018 through 2021, was approved by the Lower Salford Township Board of Supervisors at its Dec. 6 meeting.

The agreement gives raises of 2.75 percent next year, followed by 3 percent in 2019, 3 percent in 2020 and 3.25 percent in 2021, Township Manager Joe Czajkowski said.

“When related to other collective bargaining units in the area, those numbers are very good,” Czajkowski said.

“I always like to hear that,” board Chairman Doug Gifford said. “It’s not that the numbers are good, but the numbers are good compared to some.”

Additional information provided for this article says the base pay rate for officers with more than four years’ service, which includes most of the department’s officers, will be $98,331 in 2018, $101,281 in 2019, $104,319 in 2020 and $107,709 in 2021.

“When related to other collective bargaining units in the area, those numbers are very good.” — Lower Salford Township Manager Joe Czajkowski

In other matters at the Dec. 6 meeting:

• The board approved a resolution prohibiting mini casinos.

Other local towns, including Franconia and Upper Salford, have also done so.

“It seems the way we balance budgets in the state these days is to dream up new and inviting ways to lure people into gambling so we don’t have to raise taxes,” Gifford said. “One of the off-shoots of that is to authorize these so-called mini casinos. They’re mini only because their size, I guess, is smaller and the number of games allowed is fewer.”

Municipalities have until the end of the year to notify Harrisburg if the municipality wants to prohibit mini casinos in their town, he said.

Towns that prohibit the mini casinos can reverse that decision in the future, but ones that do not now act to prohibit the mini casinos cannot decide later to ban the mini casinos, he said.

“It makes sense to me, and I think to all of us, that we pass a resolution to prohibit it,” Gifford said, “and if at some point in the future we need some gambling revenue to balance our budget, we’ll consider undoing that prohibition.”

• Harleysville Fire Company Chief Kevin Wasson said the department’s annual Santa Run, in which Santa Claus rides around town on a fire truck, will be Saturday, Dec. 23.

It starts at 10 a.m. and goes until about 4 p.m., he said.

“We look forward to that every year,” Wasson said. “We cover every street in the township, or we do our best to.”

The Santa Run also collects food donations from residents for the Shepherd’s Shelf in Kulpsville, he said.

Last year’s collection brought in five pickup truck loads of food for the food pantry, he said.

“This is a huge, huge thing for them. They really appreciate our support,” Wasson said.