Washington Township’s Jeff Geesaman has retired from his position as Manager.
The township opened their doors from 1 – 4 p.m. on the last day of his tenure on July 28, 2023 to people ranging from citizens and staff members to visiting dignitaries. The latter included State Senator Doug Mastriano and Franklin County Commissioner Robert Ziobrowski. The ceremony was attended by well over 50 people throughout the day.
A native of Rouzerville, Mr Geesaman has been an important part of Washington Township’s development for many decades.
· He worked for the Township Roads Department as an equipment operator from July of 1979 to October of 1982
· He then served on the Water and Sewer Authority Board (WTMA) for over 15 years and as Chairman for 8 of of those years.
· He then was elected to the Township Board of Supervisors in 2010 serving the last 2 years as Chairman prior to being hired as Assistant Manager for two years in July of 2015.
· He assumed the Manager position in June of 2017 where he served until his retirement.
During his tenure as Manager, he worked closely with Chief Mike McGovern to enhance police services, resulting in a return to 24/7 coverage in the past year.
He served on many Boards and Committees such as the Greater Waynesboro Vision 2035, the Waynesboro Industrial Development Corporation (WIDC), Greater Waynesboro Chamber of Commerce, Franklin County Council of Governments Board, Franklin County Criminal Justice Advisory Committee, Franklin County Emergency Alliance Board, the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors Secretary and Managers’ Committee, Rotary International, Franklin County Area Tax Bureau (FCATB) Collection Committee and the Keystone Municipal Insurance Trust (KMIT) Board since 2017.
In addition to these services to the community, Mr Geesaman is also a member of both volunteer fire departments, serving both in various capacities for over 50 years.
When not engaged in civic activities, Mr Geesaman was deeply involved in the construction industry with an impressive list of roads and facilities which he built or participated in building to his credit.
He leveraged his construction background for the benefit of the township, taking on the project of constructing the long discussed Washington Township Boulevard to a great extent with township crews, saving the township considerable funds and accelerating the boulevard’s opening. This opened portions of the township to development that will have a positive impact for many years to come.
Mr Geesaman was most recently responsible for managing construction of the new Township municipal office complex at 11798 Buchanan Trial East. He worked directly with architects and the selected construction companies to provide a municipal facility that will serve the township for many years into the future.
Outside of all the regular duties required from a Township Manager, when there wasn’t a building to build or a road to pave, he spent long hours with his road crews plowing snow or helping out by operating heavy equipment.
“He’s told the story many times of how we got started on the new building”, said Dan DeDona, a current supervisor. The whole project was well beyond the township’s means until Mrs Alma Oyer called him one day with an offer to sell the township roughly three acres off Rt 16. “Well, that’s not the kind of thing I can approve on my own” he told her, adding “I’ll need to get the supervisors in on this.” She reportedly replied “Well hurry up – I’m old.”
And with that, a lot happened over the next few years starting with paying Mrs Oyer a dollar for the property. “We may still owe Jeff a dollar for that purchase” said current board chair Stewart McCleaf. “We owe him a lot more than that” said supervisor Charlie Strausbaugh with Supervisor Scott Stine nodding in agreement.
Future plans are still coming together. He and his wife Patti like to camp, travel in their camper and enjoy watching their grandchildren play baseball and softball. He’s an avid hunter and likes to spend time at the range shooting clay birds. He has two sons: Andy who lives in Waynesboro and is following in his father’s footsteps serving on the WTMA board, and Nathan who lives in Vienna VA.
“The only thing I’m certain of right now is I’m not coming to work on Monday morning” he told those present at the party.
Fair enough, but considering how engaged he’s been for such a long time, it seems unlikely he’ll stay out of sight for long.
