North Strabane Begins Busy 2021

North Strabane Township Supervisors held a busy voting meeting on Tuesday night. North Strabane Municipal Authority Manager Mark Wolinsky kicked off the meeting by delivering the authority’s budget that included no rate increase to township residents. Supervisors then went on to approve a conditional use application for the construction of a Starbucks restaurant and Chase Bank drive through ATM location adjacent to the Doubletree Hotel on Racetrack Road. And in a tense vote, supervisors approved Fire Chief Mark Grimm as the township’s new Public Safety Director. Grimm will take on the responsibilities of this position in addition to his position as Fire Chief. The approval was 4-1 with supervisor Marcus Staley dissenting indicating that attention needs to be paid to an eleventh hour set of concerns from the Chief of Police. Staley also pointed to possible budget impacts and alleged cronyism in his objection to the appointment. The remaining supervisors were not swayed. They pointed to the fact that this has been in the works since budget workshops in the fall and there was plenty of time to raise concerns over the last three months. When asked for further comment, Staley did not want to make a comment indicating he would have more to say in the future.