May 6, 2014 5 min read

CECIL – The cost to repair a Cecil Township road that is collapsing has become a flashpoint among supervisors.

At Monday’s council meeting, supervisors discussed the deplorable condition of several township roads, but clashed over how the township should pay for repairs to those roads.

A three-phase repair of a 1 1/2-mile stretch of Coleman Road alone could cost as much as $2 million, Gateway Engineers told supervisors at its last meeting. It will cost at least $1.2 million to repair the road correctly, said Dan Dieseroth of Gateway.

Supervisor Elizabeth Cowden said Monday night the township should “bite the bullet” and “do what we need to do for these roads. We borrow the money, do whichever roads we need to do and move on.”

Other roads in poor condition include Angerer, Hickory Grade, Mungai Hill, Laurel Hill and King.

“I think we have a very critical problem here with liability coverage if there’s an injury or a death. We’re aware of (the condition of the roads) but, we’re not doing anything about our roads. The roads are our most important thing … and we haven’t done a damn thing. I want to spend whatever we need to, to have decent roads. Obviously, we’re not going to work with Range Resources. We would have roads like Cross Creek Township and Mt. Pleasant Township if we would work with Range Resources, but we’ve chosen not to,” said Cowden, as members of the public clapped.

Board President Andy Schrader and Supervisor Cindy Fisher objected to Cowden’s remarks.

“I disagree with you. We’ve already spent $800,000, and last year we spent over a million dollars in roads,” said Schrader, who said the township must address several other issues in addition to roads.

He mentioned a proposed addition to the township building, which is running out of space and also accommodates the township’s municipal sewage authority. The addition is estimated to cost between $250,000 and $275,000.

Fisher proposed approaching the authority to see if it would be willing to pay a higher monthly rent in order cover the cost of any loan the township took in order to construct the addition. She also mentioned proposing a five-year lease, and if the township’s fast growth leaves supervisors with limited space, the township can ask the authority to look for another place to rent at that time.

Supervisor Frank Ludwin is in favor of building the addition. Cowden opposes it, saying the money should be used for road repairs. Supervisors did approve a $142,146 contract with Bauer Excavating for repairs to Coleman Road.

Dieseroth told supervisors he obtained an emergency permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection to begin work, which should take about six weeks to complete.

Dieseroth outlined the work necessary to repair the road, which includes installing a 100-foot long gravity wall that will be between eight and 10 feet tall. Tiebacks will be used as a form to fill in concrete where rock is now missing. The wall will be built about 20 feet from the existing road and about 10 feet away from a wall where the road is slipping.

Joe Sites also presented the board with two prices for drainage, guide rail and slope protection for Coleman Road: $879,747 for a company to complete the project, which includes the replacement of all cross pipes along Coleman, or $711,541 if the township purchases the materials. The purpose is to divert water into the storm sewage system and dry the road out.

Supervisor Tom Casciola suggested the board consider taking out a bond issue to pay for road repairs, noting that repairs for some of the roads “will get progressiveley more expensive if we do that next year or the year after.”

“A bond issue is a mechanism that all public projects go thorugh. It’s something we need to investigate to know what the annual bond payments would be … it could be half of what we’re spending each year,” said Casciola, who said he doesn’t want to continue to repair bad roads “piecemeal.”

“Piecemeal just gets worse each year. Nobody would piecemeal their house or their car. It’s not bad planning to float bond issues,” he said.

Fisher said that before the township looks into a bond issue, it should throughly assess the condition of all township road and establish a five-year plan.

At one point during the contentious meeting, Schrader called for an executive session for personnel and contract issues as angry residents who attended interjected their comments and derided Schrader when he talked.

Cowden left the executive session midway through, saying supervsisors are interfering with her requests for information on a number of issues.

In another matter, resident David Bradwell asked the township if it would approve conducting a forensic audit covering the last five years of township finances, on the heels of the arrest of former police chief John Pushak, if he was able to procure the money necessary to pay for the audit, which would cost thousands of dollars. The board said it would consider the forensic audit if funding was provided and if solicitor John Smith said it was legal for a private person or group to pay for such an audit.

Pushak was charged with theft and accused of siphoning more than $10, 000 from a special investigations bank account to gamble at two area casinos.