Charles Stowe

ALLEGHENY TWP — An Allegheny Township supervisor with a decades-long record of public service has been tapped to sit on the executive board of the Pennsylvania State Township Supervisors Association.

Charles Stowe, who has been a township supervisor for more than 30 years and served on various standing committees for the association for more than 15 years, was appointed to the executive board earlier this week.

Stowe’s appointment filled a vacancy on the board, and installed a long-serving committee member on the body.

“We welcome the opportunity to tap into the experience and energy that Chuck Stowe brings,” said David Sanko, PSTSA executive director.

Stowe said he hopes his appointment to the 12-member board, which meets quarterly, will give him an opportunity to discuss important issues, like the state’s Act 13 Marcellus Shale impact fee, which he is concerned about losing.

“That fee might be up in the air if there’s a severance tax put on to the gas companies,” Stowe said. “That money, for local townships, they did projects that probably wouldn’t have happened.”

Stowe said he testified last spring before the Pennsylvania Senate on the possible negative effects of losing the impact fee. Last year, Allegheny Township used its impact fee allocation to replace an aging grader.

Stowe said he’s served on various standing committees for the association for more than 15 years, and enjoys the postings as opportunities to keep abreast of developing issues facing local municipalities across the state.

“What people don’t realize is that local government ... probably affects people’s lives more than a presidential election,” Stowe said. “The local government is closest to the people, and I think it’s a very important thing that we should keep and promote.”

The association represents Pennsylvania’s 1,453 townships of the second class, which have 5.5 million residents — more than any other type of political subdivision in the state.