Wayne Road

A pair of township residents, Carolyn and Timothy Robertson, approached the Sandy Township Supervisors for help regarding their Wayne Road property.  The couple wanted Sandy Township to do something about the amount of crashes into their property in general, but specifically the stone wall in front of a house they own.

Carolyn explained to the supervisors that the front yard wall on the property has been crashed into enough times that Farmer’s Mutual, their insurance company, has dropped coverage for the wall.  One repair job along had cost the Robertson’s $8,000. 

“We don’t have insurance due to no fault of ours,” said Carolyn.

As recently as Nov 8 a driver drove off the road into the house while they were away.  According to Carolyn, this incident damaged the house’s foundation, moved some interior walls, and the estimate currently is at $34,000.  The Robertsons believe it could go up one a structural engineer is hired to do a more detailed analysis.  After the wall was dropped by their insurance company, the Robertsons expressed their worry that the entire house may end up getting dropped if repairs cost more than the drivers’ are insured too.

“We’re afraid [our insurance] is going to say they can’t insure us anymore,” said Carolyn.

The Robertsons said they had already added a large rock to the property before November 8.  Google Street View shows the property before and after the rock was in place.  The Nov 8 driver, according to Carolyn, hit the rock on the right side and the cable attached to the utility pole before continuing into the house.

“We do sit off the road quite a bit.  It doesn’t help with the curve right there, but I’ve sat out there,” said Sandy Township Police Chief Chris Kruzelak.

Kruzelak gave his impression of the area to the Supervisors.  It was that most of the drivers follow the speed limit.  The surface the road was contributing less to these wrecks than drivers being under the influence.

The Supervisors said they would look into solutions, but this would be complicated as the property is on the county line. 

Industrial Park Project

Sandy Township Manager Shawn Arbaugh notified the Supervisors of an alternative to the soil stabilization issue in the Industrial Park.  At the last meeting Arbaugh outlined a fix that was estimated to cost around $400 to 500 thousand.  A new possible fix approved by PennDOT and the Township’s geotechnical engineers would bring the cost down to the lower $100 thousands price range. 

The Township will continue with the previous plan of applying for a multimodal grant to help pay for the project.  The grant, if awarded to the Township, would require the Township to pay for a third of the costs out of its own pocket.  The Township will be on the hook for the entire project if they do not get the grant.

Other Business

Kruzelak reported to the Supervisors that the new server has arrived and some of the department have had Covid-19 exposures.  The department is currently trying to acquire rapid Covid tests for these officers.

Township Emergency Coodinator Larry Bichel reported that plans are being put in place for the SAR-COV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) vaccine.  Current plans are to hold vaccinations at the DuBois Mall in Sandy Township as the first location for Clearfield County.  The second chosen location is currently the Clearfield County Career and Technology Center in Clearfield. 

Bichel praised the recently reported Moderna vaccine that is reportedly 95% effective at the current testing stage.  Another advantage for the Moderna virus is that it will continue being viable with more typical refrigeration compared to other promising vaccines. 

Arbaugh said that he expected all the draft chapters to the consolidation study by Friday.

“I think we’re moving in the right direction,” said Arbaugh.