Municipal News
- Last Updated on Tuesday, 12 March 2013 18:14
Dateline: January 28, 2013
Today the Union Township Board of supervisors committed to the purchase of equipment it insisted was needed for road maintenance and storm water control throughout Union Township. A Back-Hoe costing $98,831.00 and a Tractor with Boom Mower costing $89,388.00 were approved for purchase after considerable discussion. The Tractor/Mower purchase was agreed to without much contention as the old unit was basically worn out with cost of maintenance and poor supply of spare parts causing issues. The Back Hoe however was questioned by Mr. Parish. In the past, when a Back Hoe was needed the service was hired from a private contractor. The majority of the Supervisors argued that, “it had been difficult in the past to obtain back-Hoe Services in a timely manner and many projects were set aside due to the lack of a Twp. Back Hoe. In addition, a Back Hoe would serve as a backup for the front loader in loading road salt.” Mr. Parish argued that a Back Hoe had always been available to the Twp. in the past from outside contractors. He said, “This purchase is fiscally irresponsible. The need doesn’t justify the purchase.” The vote on the purchase of the Tractor/Mower was 5/0. The vote on the purchase of the Backhoe was 4/1 with Mr. Parish voting against the purchase.
Planning Commission member Hal Breinig attending the meeting asked, “Why did you buy a $40,000 tree limb chipper last spring that he said, “has been very lightly used if at all.” He pointed out that there are Twp. roads that are overgrown and there’s been little trimming. Road Maintenance Supervisor Ed Frye pointed out that The Chipper has had down time due to repairs under warranty. The supervisors asked Frye to prepare a log of chipper use for the next meeting.
Another issue brought up was the lack of a skilled Back Hoe Operator on the Road Crew. Supervisor Spahr said, “We need to get the most out of our road Crew. The days of having the road crew out with shovels are gone. They need to be equipped to do the job they’re being paid for – They’re supposed to be equipment operators. We can no longer pay the road crew what they’re getting (pay rate) for the work they’re doing. They need to be trained to do the job.”
A resident in attendance commented that The Road Supervisor should come back in a year with a record of Back Hoe use to see if this purchase was really needed.
Financing for these capital purchases will be through First Niagra at a favorable rate of 2.845% over 4 year and the board acknowledged that the funds needed are in place.
In Regular Business:
All board members were present for this meeting as were the Solicitor, Secretary, Treasurer, Zoning/Code Enforcement Officers and the Twp Engineer.
• The board conducted a workshop for an hour prior to this meeting formulating answers to questions presented to the board by the Company reviewing and updating the Twp. Ordinances.
• Minutes were reviewed and approved for five prior meetings in November, December and January
• Payrolls #25 and #26 for December of 2012 were approved ($19,410.63).
• Payrolls #1 and #2 for January of 2013 were approved ($22,609.83).
• A report submitted by the Southwest Regional Police Department was reviewed and accepted.
• The Zoning Officer reported that an inquiry had been received from Tomko Corp. for a non-coal mining operation on their property. This was passed on to the Twp. Engineer for review.
• The Twp . Engineer presented three quotes for a guard rail at the end of Stout Street in Elrama. A motion carried to award the contract to the low bidder (Interstate at $2,950).
• The Twp. Engineer reported on preliminary planning on the Courtney Hill Road Project. There are plans by the developer to remove a slate dump that has existed along the road since the 40’s and to reroute a portion of the roadway. DEP approval has not yet been obtained.
• The engineer, solicitor and a supervisor were authorized to attend a DEP meeting on February 15th.
• There were no reports from either the Solicitor of the Recreation Board. The first 2013 meeting of the Recreation Board will be February 12th.
• General Fund Bill payments $44,386.18 were authorized for payment.
• Municipal Consulting Services LLC (Harold Ivery and Peter Greig) were appointed as Twp. Zoning Officers and Code Enforcement Officers as well as Building Code Officers.
• The lowest qualified bidder was selected to install new lighting in the garage.($1,860).
• Limit for tool purchases was increased by $500.
• Penn Power was selected to perform maintenance on two emergency generators owned by the Twp.
• A closed executive session was held to discuss the airport issue. Mr. Parish did not sit in this session and no details were announced.
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