Summit Township Solicitor William Walker and Summit Township Supervisor Harry McGrath, who is also the Road Master, recently met with some PennDOT engineers in order to discuss the Route 618 Bridge.

Anyone traveling north on 618 and crossing the bridge is aware of the rather large dip at the north end.

At the last Summit Supervisor’s meeting in February, there was some discussion about the condition of the bridge with the conclusion being that both PennDOT and the township are abundantly clear that there is a settlement issue but, were not totally sure of the reasons why.

During the March meeting, McGrath and Walker imparted some details about a recent meeting with a PennDOT maintenance supervisor. During that encounter they brought him, and some engineers in attendance, up to date on the bridge situation.

Walker said that he supplied them with some information and requested information from McCormick Taylor, an engineering firm, regarding some original reports, etc. He said they are searching for the requested information and will get it as soon as possible.

Walker said the next step would hopefully be setting up some kind of meeting.

McGrath picked up the conversation and said that because of the construction of the slab and the movement, they cannot simply jack it up in order to repair it. They had even discussed the possibility of drilling through the sleeper but nothing was concluded.

McGrath said he even mentioned the possibility of blacktopping up to the correct level but, that idea didn't go over too well. According to supervisors and Walker, once the road is fixed or raised back into the correct location, this opens up another can of worms, so to speak. The reason being is that the guard rails will have to be adjusted due to federal guidelines and the berms will also have to be adjusted or brought back up to the correct level.

Both McGrath and Walker said that they found the meeting to be quite informative and said the conversation was enjoyable.

As stated earlier, the next step will hopefully be to set up a meeting with all concerned to find out what course of action will be taken to fix the bridge and when this might unfold.

In other business, there was a brief mention of Act 167, which is a storm water management law soon to be heavily enforced by DEP. This has been a topic at all other township meetings in the area, as it will have contractors and private home owners going through more steps in the process of obtaining building permits.

Many local officials are rather up in arms about this as they have said it will lead to extra costs for any construction of 1,000 square feet or more. Property owners, contractors and anyone undertaking

projects of the sort will be faced with engineering costs and new hurdles on the road to gaining permits.

Municipalities must have ordinances passed by June 30 or the county will not be reimbursed for engineering studies that have been carried out.

During this particular Summit meeting, Secretary Cindy McCoy presented supervisors with a letter from Porter Consulting, a local engineering firm, in regards to the act. The letter included Ashley Porter's comments to the County Commissioners. Evidently, he had asked for reconsideration on a couple of aspects of the ordinance.

Porter has been noted and described at various meetings as being an outspoken individual who is looking out for the best interests of the area citizens.

Walker had a complaint on hand that will be filed with the District Justice concerning Fairway 12. He explained it was a judgment for amusement taxes that had not been paid on five machines that qualify for the tax.

He said that amusement tax covers pinball machines and other coin operated games. “The rate of tax has always been $25 per year per machine. Walker said, “I don't know how long she's had the machines in there but we know for a fact...that she has five machines from the year 2009...”

He said that their hope is that she will be in compliance hence forth.

In zoning, three new houses are being built in the township. McCoy said that Middle Department currently has the permits and she will be getting them in the next several days.

The Road Master report basically consisted of reporting on snow removal with McGrath stating that of the 28 days in February, 18 were dedicated to snowplowing and sanding almost exclusively.

They had some trouble when one of the trucks became stuck. McGrath said it took two large triaxle wreckers to remove the vehicle and in doing so, there was a spring that broke. They were able to fix everything, within two hours after removing the vehicle from the snow.

The township is going to be putting out bids for 2 RC gravel and salt brine as well. McGrath said they have really been going through the materials like anti skids, fuel and brine. Plus, the activity is naturally hard on the equipment.

He said they need to put some pressure on Harrisburg in order to get some funds and indicated that they need to contact the local representatives in order to get the ball rolling.

He did not have any praise whatsoever about the stimulus, as he said it has really done the township no good at all. For instance, McCoy said that they contacted the County Planning Commission because McGrath had seen something in a local publication about the stimulus.

She said they found out that the “Stimulus Act Loans are tied to one million dollar bond issues. He said 'our work that we want here isn't a million dollars and we're not going to purchase a million dollar bond issue to have access to the stimulus loan.'”

McGrath and McCoy both indicated that the whole deal stunk and McGrath elaborated by saying that the stimulus money is supposed to help local governments but countywise, they cannot get anything.

They have a maintenance building that is in poor repair and the heating costs are rising due to the condition of said building. He said when he saw that in the paper, he thought that some help could be obtained but it was a no go.

He also said that many things have been off limits in terms of the township getting stimulus money period.

The bottom line is that the stimulus money has not done any good thus far. They thought they could get some money for old equipment but it didn't work either. McCoy said everything looks good until the fine print is read. Also, some talk about the cities getting all the help was bantered about.

Moving along, the township clean up day has been scheduled for May 15th. Waste Management is going to supply the dumpsters as their price was more competitive. Also, Meadville Metal said they'd match any price in terms of the competition so they will be utilized as well.

When the date gets closer, more details like the time, etc.,. will be published.

One more note is that tires will be accepted but they can only be a truck or car size and must be removed from the rim.

The next township meeting will be held at the township building on Plum Street in Harmonsburg and will take place on April 6 at 7 PM. Area residents are invited and encouraged to attend.