Sep 26, 2013 5 min read

• Date: Sept. 25

• Action: The board approved the preliminary site plan for a proposed 202-room Hyatt Place Hotel on 4.2 acres on Racetrack Road.

A public hearing regarding a curative amendment to the zoning ordinance to permit vehicle repair garages in the C-1 district was scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 15 in the municipal hall.

Resident and township supervisor candidate Neil Kelly was appointed to the planning commission to fill an unexpired term until the end of 2013. There is still another vacant seat, and the township is accepting letters of interest from residents.

Three residents, during public comment, asked the board to consider extending public water service to their homes on Linden Creek Road. Resident Michelle Zirngibl said a test of her well water revealed that E.coli is present, in addition to high levels of coliform bacteria.

• Next meeting: 7 p.m. Oct. 15

• Date: Sept. 23

• Action: Council hired attorney John Smith as township solicitor at a rate of $120 an hour, effective Oct. 1.

After 35 years as solicitor, William Johnson resigned, effective Oct. 14. During his resignation remarks, Johnson said he was scaling back his law practice but was not retiring. Smith serves as solicitor for many municipalities, including Cecil and Robinson townships.

Council accepted the resignation of David Vogel, a member of the township’s planning commission since 2005. Council agreed to contact residents who previously expressed an interest in serving on various committees. Vogel’s term expires in January 2016.

Council awarded a proposal for workers compensation insurance to Municipal Risk Management for a bid of $300,675 that includes a four-year commitment. The only other bid received was from State Workers Insurance Fund for $511,671.

Council unanimously approved the submission of the minimum municipal pension obligation by Oct. 1 for a total of $744,618. The 2012 payment was $707,402. Of the total amount, the state reimburses the township $365,000, which is 12 percent higher than last year.

Council set 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14 for a public hearing for adoption of a budget amendment to cover expenses not included in the 2013 budget. Included in the expenses are $70,963 for the purchase at a tax upset sale Monday of the former one-room schoolhouse on Bower Hill Road that was once Bower Hill Elementary School. The township was the only bidder. Also included in extra expenses was a check for the installation of gasoline tanks at the public works garage. The cost was included in the 2012 budget, but the project was not completed until January.

Council announced the Valley Brook Road project that has closed the road since mid-May is on schedule. The completion date remains July 2014.

The Sugar Camp Road bridge project should be completed by Oct. 31. The road under the bridge will be opened sooner than the bridge, which serves Arrowhead Trail.

• Next meeting: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14.

• Date: Sept. 19

• Action: The board approved a supplemental reimbursement agreement with the state Department of Transportation increasing the total amount allocated for the Pike Run No. 11 bridge project in Daisytown to $1,251,400 from state taxpayers, including an allocation under Act 26, and a $70,600 contribution from county taxpayers. PennDOT will advertise for bids, probably in October, to replace the bridge, which is open to traffic.

At the request of the county planning commission, the commissioners approved an increase in royalties received from Range Resources’ Cross Creek County Park gas wells to 16 percent from the previous 14.5 percent. In 2012, more than $1.5 million from royalties was added to the county treasury.

The commissioners OK’d the submission of a $28,702,307 2014-15 Children and Youth Services needs-based budget to the state Department of Public Welfare Office of Children, Youth and Families. County taxpayers’ contribution would be $6,233,628. Tim Kimmel, county director of human services, said Wednesday of the request for state and federal dollars, “We never get what we ask for.”

At the request of the office of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, the board approved an agreement with Pyramid Healthcare Inc. to provide inpatient drug and alcohol services to adolescents this year at a contract authorization amount not to exceed $4,500.

At the request of the jail administration, Dr. Thomas A. Dietrich will be paid $100 to extract inmates’ teeth, up from the $85 he has charged for the past four years. Dietrich has been the inmates’ dentist since 1987. The jail also will be added to the county’s contract with Mobile X-Ray Imaging Inc. of Harrisburg for the services provided to the Washington County Health Center through Dec. 31, 2014. Jail officials expect the use of mobile imaging to decrease the number of inmate hospital visits.

The board ratified the purchase of $22,000 worth of electrical supplies including cable, wire and fixtures for the justice center parking garage through a state contract that does not require bidding. Vendors, who will be paid from a bond issue that includes the parking garage project, are Tri-State Supply of Washington and W.W. Grainger Inc. of Lake Forest, Ill.

Also through a state contract, the commissioners authorized the $38,900 purchase from Walsh Equipment of Prospect, Butler County, of a tandem roller for use within the parks and at bridge sites. The roller also was bought through a state contract that does not require bidding.

• Next meeting: 10 a.m. Oct. 3 in the public meeting room of the Courthouse Square building.