Mar 12, 2013 5 min read

• Date: March 11

• Action: Council unanimously approved an agreement with Stahl Shaeffer to perform inspection services on the proposed replacement of a bridge on Sugar Camp Road. The project will go out for bid in May with the bid expected to be awarded at the last council meeting in May.

Mark Zemaitis, township engineer, told council the agreement with Stahl Shaeffer is on an hourly basis with the total not to exceed $19,820. He said the current bridge demolition should take about three weeks with the bridge closed for about one month. It will reopen with staggered, temporary closures such as occurred when the Bebout bridge connecting Arrowhead Trail was closed last year for replacement.

Council appointed Dorothy Schwerha and Michelle Chavel to two open positions on the Parks and Recreation Board.

Chairman Frank Arcuri was authorized to sign a letter of support for local municipalities to use RADAR and LIDAR. Silvestri said Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation not to permit local police departments to use RADAR for traffic enforcement.

Council granted a request to contribute $500 to the Washington County Watershed Alliance for a matching grant. The group is requesting money from all county municipalities although Silvestri said he doubted there would be 100 percent participation. Arcuri voted against the contribution.

• Discussion: The housing market in Peters Township is on the upswing, according to information provided to council by Michael Silvestri, township manager. The figures were provided by RealSTATs, which provides information on real estate transactions for five local counties including Washington County. In 2012, 381 township houses were sold, reflecting an increase of 24 percent from 2011, Silvestri said. And, the median sale price jumped from $334,000 in 2011, to $351,000 in 2012.

Council also heard of two cases that will appear before the township’s zoning hearing board Thursday. No action was taken by council on either case.

One involved a request for a second variance by Stephen Szabo involving the upcoming realignment and reconstruction of the ramp leading from Valley Brook Road to and from Washington Road. Szabo, Silvestri said, requested a connecting road from the ramp to his property north of the intersection project.

“What’s the hurry?” asked Councilman Robert Atkison, adding the road would be done with private money and “it can’t be for at least a year because this time next year, the road will be closed.”

Council did agree that any private road built from the ramp should benefit two others businesses also north of the ramp. With the road, customers wishing to turn onto Washington Road south could access the traffic signal at the top of the ramp.

The other case involved a request to construct a 14-foot wide deck off the back of a building on Valley Brook Road that is close to the Montour Trail portion that is leased by the township to the Montour Trail Council. The building is about 30 feet from the trail. Council agreed that perhaps 14 feet was too wide.

Council announced that there will be a public hearing at 7:30 p.m. April 8 for a request by the Aladdin Restaurant on Washington Road to transfer a liquor license.

Solicitor William Johnson was asked to research if council could enact an ordinance prohibiting registered sex offenders from accessing public places in the township, such as the library and Arrowhead Trail. Arcuri said there have been “some concerns in the township.”

• Next meeting: 7:30 p.m. March 25 in the municipal building

• Date: March 11

• Action: Supervisors gave their solicitor and township manager the go-ahead to draw up a new streetlight tax code at Monday’s meeting.

Manager Michael Behrens said supervisors received notice from their tax collector that the township was losing money on the amount being charged to residents who have streetlights. A group of township administrators will research a new rate that will help the account break even and present their findings to the supervisors, who will vote on the measure at their next meeting.

Solicitors also discussed updating fee schedules that would affect residents applying for residential subdivisions, conditional usage permits, zoning changes and similar construction-related endeavors. Behrens said residents now pay a flat application fee, but that supervisors were considering adding a fee that would be put into escrow to cover costs associated with solicitor and engineering review and other administrative expenses. Any money paid into escrow that isn’t used would be returned to the applicant.

Like the light tax issue, township officials were authorized to research the issue and supervisors will vote upon a new resolution at the following meeting.

• Next Meeting: 7 p.m. April 8 in the municipal building

• Date: March 11

• Action: Township supervisors continued indefinitely a final decision on the future of part-time police Officer Derek Dayoub.

After an executive meeting at the Feb. 11 meeting, supervisors voted to suspend Dayoub’s employment with Smith Township pending an investigation. Dayoub was given a private hearing on March 7.

At Monday’s meeting, supervisors said they were postponing a final decision pending a continuing investigation.

Dayoub was previously suspended without pay following a 2009 incident in which he was charged with assaulting two men while on duty. Those charges were dropped two years later at the request of former Washington County District Attorney Steve Topriani.

Supervisors would not disclose the reason for the investigation into Dayoub’s conduct. No timetable was given for when the board would make a decision on the matter.

Supervisors voted to donate $500 to the Washington County Watershed Alliance so the organization could test streams for hydraulic fracturing wastewater illegal dumping or accidental runoff.

The board also announced Range Resources had paid a road bond for a new well pad on Ridge Road in Smith Township.

• Next meeting: 7 p.m. April 8 at the Veterans of Foreign Wars building