CLEARFIELD – The Lawrence Township Supervisors were questioned about Pifer Road again last night and why they chose not to accept a bid to tar and chip a portion of the road.
The portion of the dirt and gravel road in question is just a few feet short of half a mile in length.
Resident Glenn Johnston, who has been bringing the condition of the road to the supervisors’ attention for a while, asked why the supervisors didn’t accept a bid on the road, and the supervisors replied that that the bid was much higher than anticipated.
When Johnston asked what the right price would be, the supervisors responded that a similar project had been about $8,000 and this one came in around $14,000.
Johnston stated that the road sees around 100 vehicles daily as well as tractor-trailers that get lost due to faulty GPS maps.
Roadmaster Ron Woodling informed the supervisors that he spoke to the Conservation District about applying to the dirt and gravel road program to help with the road.
The road crosses Lick Run, which is a native trout stream, and will most likely qualify for the program. The supervisors approved applying for the program.
Johnston also asked about the supervisors voting at the last meeting to not move forward with allowing the voters of the township to vote on the option of consolidation with Clearfield Borough.
He said a majority of two supervisors making that decision for the entire township was unfair, and that the decision should be made by the majority of voters.
Supervisor Randy Powell reiterated that he gave a list of questions to committee members in February that were not answered, and he and Solicitor James Naddeo also met with committee members.
Naddeo added that to him the issues seemed to be a matter of miscommunication, that the committee members believed they were answering the questions.
He added that some of the questions cannot be answered fully because they dealt with issues that would need addressed if consolidation became a reality and a new council was seated.
Under the police report, Chief Douglas Clark revisited the subject of purchasing a new Ford Explorer for the department, replacing the 2011 Ford Expedition.
At the last meeting, he had brought a price quote from Tri-Star Motor Sales, but since then he has talked with Murray Ford and they are offering about $10,000 in trade plus a rebate of $1,900 bringing the price to $20,564 under the state’s COSTARS program.
He said if they wait until next year, they would end up needing to replace two vehicles as car No. 2 is about to reach the mileage limit of 150,000.
Code Enforcement Officer Debra Finkbeiner requested three conditional use hearings for the Sept. 19 meeting. The first two are for mining by Swisher Contracting, one on Clover Hill and one on Mount Joy. The third is for timbering by Johnson Forestry in the Baneyville Road area. The hearings will be held prior to the regular meeting at 7 p.m., beginning at 6:30.
Residents are reminded that they need to have smoke testing conducted when selling a house connected to the public system.
Additionally, the code enforcement office needs to be notified when a pre-constructed home is being removed. Residents are also reminded that permits are required when a building is demolished.
The supervisors approved the cost of $400 to repaint lines at the intersection near Billy’s Burger Land. Purchase of a new pick-up truck from Murray Ford at a cost of $35,459 was also approved. Money has been budgeted for the purchase through COSTARS.
The supervisors also opened bids for the Hyde building roof project. Six bids were received with the apparent low bidder being T. English Construction at $186,000.
The companies also submitted alternate bids to do half of the roof. The apparent low bidder for this option was American Roofing.
The base bid was $235,000 and the alternate bid for half of the roof was a deduction of $108,000 bringing the cost to $127,000.
The bids were tabled until the township engineer can review them. A special meeting may be called to accept a bid or reject all bids.
