Smithfield has a New Website

Over the last several months, many on our staff and the professionals at CreativeWorks have been carefully crafting our new website. With changes in how government works due to COVID-19 and the ever-evolving world of technology, the new website includes many needed upgrades and new features. There are three upgrades or new features in particular that we are excited about.

1. All Forms Can Be Completed Online
Perhaps the most exciting new feature is the ability to complete Township forms online, helping residents save time. Be it applications for construction related permits, family celebrations in the park, or public hearings, all forms are digitalized for easy completion.

1. Determine with Township officials which fee(s) must be paid.
2. Go to www.smithfieldtownship.com.
3. Click on “Pay Fees/Bills” in the queue of shortcuts.
4. Based on the fee(s) you are told you must pay (or are certain you must pay), select a category on the drop-down menu and click “Continue”:
   1. Administrative Fees
   2. Facilities Use Fees
   3. Zoning Fees
   4. Subdivision and Land Development (SALDO) Fee
5. Enter your contact information. Select from the fee you are paying drop-down menu.
6. Select your Credit/Debit Card company (Visa, Mastercard, Discover) and the fee due. Click “Review.”
7. Review that your information is correct, then enter your email address and accept the terms and conditions of eNetPay. The fee you pay will include the nominal service charge due to the vendor.
8. Enter your Credit/Debit Card information and billing address. Click “Verify.”
9. Show your payment receipt to the clean-up attendant.

Smithfield Township’s Local News and Updates

The Smithfield Township office is open Monday through Friday from 8am to 4:30pm. Board of Supervisors Regular Business Meetings are the second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 7pm, and Work Sessions are every Wednesday at 4pm. All meetings are held at the Municipal Center and streamed on Zoom and YouTube. Subscribe to our YouTube channel Smithfield Township for notifications and updates.

Township Clean-Up

Township Clean-Up is for Smithfield Township residents only. Commercial disposal is forbidden. You must bring proof of residency, such as a driver’s license, tax bill, rent receipt, etc. All residents are encouraged to take advantage of this annual opportunity to dispose of unwanted household goods.

• Venue: Smithfield Township Municipal Center
• Upcoming Dates:
  • September 16, 2020 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
  • September 17, 2020 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
  • September 18, 2020 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
  • September 19, 2020 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
  • September 20, 2020 8:00 am – 5:00 pm

DEADLINE SEPTEMBER 30TH
The 2020 Census determines congressional representation, informs hundreds of billions in federal funding every year, and provides data that will impact communities for the next decade.
You can respond via:

• Online
• Phone
• Mail

Confessions of a Reformed Recycler  

By Robert Lovenheim

I grew up assuming everything in America was tossed in a trash barrel and after that, it was not my problem. I had vague notions of what happened once trash was picked up by the garbage truck; my hometown had an incinerator for a while, and then a dump. Nobody thought much about it.

About a year ago I started to think seriously about what happens to all the stuff I tossed in the garbage all my life. Why? It was one of those life revelations that you never think about until you think about it, like when it suddenly hits you that all those black circles you see on the sidewalk in big cities are gum. Yeach!

I was fortunate enough to tour a landfill in Pen Argyl. That tour was followed by a visit to a resource materials facility near Northampton, where recycled materials go to be sorted, bailed, and sold to someone to be melted down and reused.

The company I visited hauls a lot of the trash in Monroe County. After the tour, I started thinking about what happens to everything I had been tossing out all my life and realized I couldn’t treat it the same way anymore. If you see a landfill, you’ll realize there’s a limit to the places we can find to bury stuff; the landfill I visited is almost full.

How long can this go on? One day, we’re going to have shortages of raw materials. Every plastic egg carton, strawberry box, dish liquid bottle, and plastic bag we throw away is vanishing into the earth for eternity. Think of that the next time you lift the lid of your garbage container and throw something in. You are committing something valuable to eternal life at the bottom of billions of pounds of garbage. The simple act of throwing a plastic jar into the garbage rather than the recycling bin, even if you have to wash a little food out of it first, is your decision to bury it forever.

The recycling process is not exactly the saint to the garbage dump sinners, but more about that another time. If you want to see the video we made about this, check out the MRF Project in Smithfield Township.