LAWRENCE TWP.- Township Manager Ashley Pritchard had a busy afternoon when the Lawrence Township supervisors got together on Thursday. Her portion of the meeting showed multiple items needing discussed and approved, from road work to the fire department.
The road needs for the township began with her seeing approval for Lords Road to be one maintained officially by the township, pending approval from Penndot. Currently, the road is maintained by the township crew, but is considered a state road by Penndot. Resolution 2025-07 would change this so the township is responsible for plowing, maintaining, and repairs.
Afterwards, Pritchard revealed the research done to replace the township’s fire truck had some strong finance options that had some long-term benefits. The new truck for the township was not completed yet, but was anticipated to be done by the end of August. Supervisor Jeremy Ruffner noted that it had been several years since they had to do payments on a truck as the current fleet has been paid off for several years. Because of this, he said there was lots of funding available in the capital fund to help with a down payment.
Pritchard researched terms for supervisors on the loan so the terms can be locked in. Ultimately, the volunteer term for the loans gave two options, each finishing out over a 15-year span and having both fixed and variable rates.
Supervisors decided on going with a Centennial National loan at a 4.510% fixed rate for ten years, with the final five years having variable rates.
Code Enforcement officer Agatha Lauder had multiple items approved by the supervisors, but one item on the agenda was tabled until July. Land development for conditional use fishing cabins that will be maintained by Heather and Robert Inguagiato, who intend to use them as Airbnb rentals for recreation, which would fall under a similar guideline to recreational lodging and RV camping. Lauder noted that a public hearing was needed to get input from citizens before moving forward with it, and supervisors decided to have the public meeting on Tuesday, July 15, at 4:50 p.m. before the regular meeting at the township building.
Lauder noted as well that the township acquired a property through a tax sale, and she had a copy of the original deed to the property, which is now in the township’s name. The blighted property was approved by the supervisors to move forward with posting it to give an eviction notice to the current resident. The motion was approved, with supervisor Randy Powell noting to Lauder it would be best to serve it with police backup.
Supervisors will be back in session right at the start of next month, with a 5 p.m. meeting on Tuesday, July 1.
