The Harford Township Supervisor are soliciting bids for materials for the year.  At their meeting on February 20th, they decided on a list of stone products, fuels and services that they will need and will be advertising for vendors to submit bids.

Because the materials will be paid for with state funds (turnbacks and liquid fuel subsidies) they must all be state certified.  The Township reserves the right to purchase “more or less” as required.

At a special meeting in late January, the Supervisors opened bids for purchase and installation of grinder pumps for the sewer system.  The low bid, from Warren Stone Excavating of Thompson came in at $567,153.75.  All of the bids substantially exceeded the grant amount that will be used to pay for the project, which is to repair and replace as many of the aging system’s pumps as possible.

Tad Moser, representing the JHA Companies, the Township’s engineering consultants and operators of the sewers system, said that he had spoken with the Warren Stone company to try to shave the cost down to something more affordable.  In the end they decided to cut the number of pumps from 49 to 35, and to install only 24 of them, keeping the remaining 11 as spares.  That would bring the price down to about $375,500, still more than the grant total; the remainder – more than $10,000 – will be paid out of the Township’s sewer account.  Jeremy Stone, son of the contractor, was present at the meeting. 

According to Mr. Moser, the cost is so high in part because the grant requires that workers on the project be paid so-called “prevailing wages,” which tend to be higher than the going rate locally for the same type of work. He said that JHA will complete the paperwork with Warren and have the contract signed.  The pumps will be replaced in a “priority” order provided by the plant’s operator, with those that have required the most frequent service at the top of the list. 

At that same January meeting the Supervisors decided to take a different option for the dump box on the new Peterbilt truck purchased from Hunter Keystone of Lancaster, saving about $15,000 on the total cost for the option of $43,255.  The February bill list showed an item at $115,208 to Hunter Keystone for the truck, whose total cost will be over $150,000.

Supervisor Dustin Walker said that “staffing is our biggest problem.”  The Township is having trouble finding people qualified to operate the equipment, in particular drivers with CDL licenses, and operators with experience on a grader.

The Supervisors once again discussed what to do about a roller for the road maintenance season.  Renting a roller costs about $4,000 per month; a roller with less than 1,500 hours might cost about $60,000 to purchase.

The Township’s tax collector, Jessica Miller, is asking the Township to help pay for membership in her professional association at $70 per year, and for an on-line course she is required to take under new regulations that costs $250.  There was some sense that such expenses are the responsibility of the individual, much like, for example, the cost of a CDL license is generally laid to the driver.  The Supervisors are interested in how the Mountain View School Board will respond to the tax collector’s request.  As it happens, a member of the School Board attended the meeting (on another matter), but she was not able to speak for how the School Board might act.

That School Board member also happens to live in the village of Kingsley, across the street from Jenny Leigh’s café, and she’s having some issues with the way patrons of the diner park.  She emphasized that she wasn’t laying any of the blame on Ms. Leigh, who has kept the business in the village at great cost and effort following a fire that destroyed the original building on the highway.  On the other hand, despite the parking lot provided next to the café, some have ignored that and park on the lawn of the properties across the street.  She said that some 4 feet of her yard have been expropriated for café parking.  What to do?

The Supervisors could offer no clear solution.  Trespassing is the responsibility of the State Police.  The Township would not be able to enforce, for example, a no-parking area on Mill Street.  The property owner was advised that perhaps planting some shrubs, installing fence or other barriers might alleviate the problem.

The next public meeting of the Harford Township Supervisors is scheduled for Tuesday, March 20, 2018 beginning at 7:00pm at the Township office on Route 547.

At their February meeting on the 21st, the New Milford Township Supervisors awarded Lopke Rock Products the primary contract to supply stone for road maintenance for 2018.  Lopke’s FOB bid was not the lowest, but according to Supervisor Don Shibley, the Township prefers to take delivery at the Township for 95% of its materials and Lopke’s bid for delivery was the lowest, probably because the other suppliers would have further to travel.  The secondary supplier was the next lowest bidder, Pennsy Supply.

The Supervisors selected low bidder Mirabito Energy Products to supply fuels.  Mirabito’s fixed price of $1.47 per gallon for propane seemed to be the deciding factor.  Fuel suppliers generally bid with a price based on the daily price they pay.  One of the bidders required a premium for propane because the Township would need to replace its tanks.

The Supervisors’ meeting was actually preceded by a presentation to a full house by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and Dewberry of Fairfax, Virginia, a civil engineering firm on a project to completely replace the Gibson interchange on Interstate 81.  The project was originally planned for 2015, to be completed by 2018, but the funds were diverted elsewhere in the state.  This time construction is expected to begin in 2021, take about 2 years and cost about $20 million.  The meeting was attended by all of the movers and shakers in the county, including State Representative Jonathan Fritz, the commissioners, and many of the property and business owners in the affected area.

The project would replace the short “suicide” entry and exit lanes on the Interstate at the interchange that was not originally designed to handle the volume of traffic – in particular, the truck traffic – that now use the area that has been developing as a commercial center in the county.  The bridge carrying Route 848 over the highway would also be replaced, and traffic signals installed to help control vehicle flow.

The Supervisors also heard from Aaron Woodruff, representing The Kilmer Group, a member of the larger Keystone Insurers Group.  Mr. Woodruff made a pitch to replace DGK as the Township’s insurance broker.  He said that his company liked New Milford’s low claims history.  The Kilmer Group now represents several other municipalities in Susquehanna County; Keystone represents clients in many states.

Mr. Woodruff’s pitch was immediately successful, with the Supervisors signing paperwork to make the switch.  Township Secretary Julene Graham said that, while the Township’s current agent, DGK, had performed well in the past, recent turnover seemed to have affected their performance, leaving them somewhat unresponsive.

The Township received notice that the Bluestone company would be installing a new pipeline along Route 492 that will require closing that road for one day.  Supervisor and Roadmaster Jack Conroy was not able to say when that might be.

Mr. Conroy also asked his colleagues to consider the purchase of a new grader to replace the 7-year-old machine now in service.

New Milford Township spent just over $105,000 last month, against about $64,500 in revenue for the month.  The 2018 budget anticipates spending $1.4 million against corresponding income, including an expected $600,000 from Act 13 “impact fee” revenue from the natural gas industry.  The budget allocates $275,000 for equipment purchases, probably enough for a new grader.  The biggest expense in the budget is for road materials, some $475,000.

The next public meeting of the New Milford Township Supervisors is scheduled for Wednesday, March 21, 2018, beginning at 7:30pm at the Township office on U.S. Route 11 north of the borough.