At its Nov. 12 meeting, the Marlborough Township Board of Supervisors voted to advertise the 2026 budget, which includes a fire tax to support the Green Lane Fire Company.

            The .185 mill fire tax will create the only tax increase for the coming year. The fire tax matches the township's emergency medical services levy implemented last year.

            The fire tax resolution also mandates that any organization receiving over $10,000/year report to the supervisors periodically on how the money is utilized.

            President Billy Hurst and Township Manager/Secretary/Treasurer Marybeth Cody had met with members of the Green Lane Fire Company to discuss the fire tax proposal.

            Hurst and Supervisor Bill Jacobs are in favor of the fire tax while Supervisor Brian Doremus prefers a dedicated savings account for the fire company. Doremus voted against implementing the fire tax and voted against advertising the budget.

            On the budget in general, Cody told the supervisors, "As always, your expenses exceed your revenue and the only thing keeping it afloat right now is the carryovers from year to year." Over $500,000 will be carried over from the 2025 budget into next year.

            Cody expressed concerns about relying on carryovers each year. She urged the supervisors to develop a five-year plan for the township. The final budget will be voted on at the next supervisors meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 10.

            One item that will not be in the budget is money to support the Act 537 sewage facilities plan for the Green Lane Marlborough Joint Authority despite pleas from GLMJA's Dave Garber and Joe Boldaz, of Hydraterra Professionals, who is advising GLMJA. Marlborough Township Engineer Chad Camburn had also recommended the plan.

            With a deteriorating infrastructure and no plan in place to comply with state mandates, the aging system faces potential public health crises through system leakage and could have effects on business development in the township.

            Supervisor Bill Jacobs cited concerns about mandatory septic system cleanouts and the disproportionate monetary burden Marlborough would carry since a "small number" of residents are hooked up to GLMJA.

             Jacobs and Doremus voted against adding money to the 2026 budget for the project, whose fate remains uncertain. The Marlborough/Green Lane area is one of a handful in the state without an Act 537 plan.

            In other news, Cody reported that the Reihman Road bridge project has progressed into the DEP permitting process.

            "The DEP stage will take a few months, but that is good news," Cody said.

            Public Works Director Steve Fulmer proposed chipping parts of Perkiomenville and Magazine roads after PECO finishes its gas line project and blacktops the affected roads. Fulmer predicts that chipping the roads now will prolong the time between the next needed maintenance by five years, from 10 to 15 years, before it starts cracking.

            The PA Department of Environmental Protection notified Marlborough of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit renewal for the Perkiomenville quarry. The renewal requires additional sampling for arsenic.

            The PADEP said effluent from the quarry pit sump revealed "a presence of arsenic greater than 10% of the most stringent Water Quality-Based Effluent Limitation (WQBEL) and Pennsylvania Drinking Water Standard of 10 ug/L." A ug/L refers to micrograms per liter.

            As a result the PADEP is telling the quarry to take more samples from any pit sump discharge to build up data to determine the effect on the Unami Creek.

            The letter from the PADEP notes that "the pit sump rarely discharges and effectively concentrates groundwater that flows into the quarry. This water infiltrates as opposed to discharges to the Unami Creek."

            The agency also said that arsenic is a natural occurrence in the quarry's locale.

            The permit renewal has nothing to do with Heidelberg Materials Northeast LLC's plan to expand mining operations at the quarry.   

            The Marlborough police department will be running its annual holiday toy drive. Drop off new, unwrapped toys and gift cards at the Marlborough police at 6040 Upper Ridge Road, Tuesday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.; the Borough of Pennsburg, 76 West 6th St., Pennsburg, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; East Greenville Borough, 206 Main St., East Greenville, Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and Friday, 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

            Proceeds benefit newborns to 18-year-olds in the Valley and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The last day to donate is Dec. 18.

            An executive session was held prior to the general meeting to discuss personnel and legal issues.