Business View Civil & Municipal l November 2022

110 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 9 A North Whitehall’s roots are in farming. “At one time, we had maybe 50 farmers,” recalls Dennis Klusaritz, Vice Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. “Now, we’re down to about a dozen or so. Farmers are joining off. They are getting older and their kids do not want to farm anymore. So, they sell their property and then builders buy the property and start building.” Helping to preserve the farmlands has been important to Klusaritz. “I’ve been on this board for over four years. During my first year in office, I was instrumental in getting money for farmland preservation.” The plan made it to the ballot and the people supported it. “Now,” he says, “we’re getting money to purchase farmland… we’ve purchased two farms in 2022, which is a good start for us. [I’m] so proud that we did that in my first term here.” Those farms are now preserved, meaning there can be no more building on those properties. The township continues to query larger farms, in a continued preservation effort. In today’s day and age of building and developing, this, obviously, is a rare - and special - undertaking. “We have five preserved farms in the township, totaling 434 acres,” Township Manager Randy Cope adds. One of those farms still going strong is Jaindl Farms, who produces upwards of 850,000 turkeys a year. “It’s a big operation,” Cope states. “They supply the annual turkey to the White House… there’s a tremendous history for that AT A GLANCE NORTHWHITEHALL TOWNSHIP WHAT: North Whitehall Township WHERE: Located in Eastern Pennsylvania WEBSITE: http://www.northwhitehall.org/