Greenwood Fire Chief Hank Piatt approached Greenwood Township Supervisors, during the February meeting, about the insurance policy.

He said that recently a representative from First National Insurance, the township's agency, had toured the department and found it to be under insured for the replacement cost of the building.

Piatt said everything is typically insured at replacement cost and currently the coverage is in the amount of $254,000. He had been told that they should be insured at $500,000 for that building, which would bump the premium up $878 more.

Piatt mentioned that the concern of the department was if something were to happen, they might have trouble getting things up and running with the current coverage. He said it's only 50% of what they said it would be to replace it. There are some options but he didn't have the numbers with him to impart.

Supervisor Cecil Stevenson said that many erasers were worn out in the attempt to try and balance the budget this time, and they were not able to do so.

Piatt said he totally understood that things were very tight, but mainly wanted to let them know the situation.

Supervisor Diane Adsit said that at least they are aware of what is going on and said it's good to get this kind of problem out in the open. “We should all be talking about this because it's a community facility. I don't know whether I really think the building needs to be insured at replacement value or not but, I do think it's important that everybody knows...”

Piatt agreed and said if anything were to happen, they'd need all the help they could get from the township, so an open line of communication was the best route in this case.

“That's just the building. Our trucks are insured at different values based on a percentage on what it would cost to replace them,” he added.

Adsit said it's often hard to decide what to do in terms of insurance since, “you're always juggling. Sometimes you don't have a choice...”

Piatt gave an example of a replacement cost for a truck, for instance, and said the tanker truck is insured for $150,000 and the cost of another one could run anywhere from $300,000 to $500,000.

Stevenson indicated that they are struggling at the moment and have to transfer some money from one account to another in order to pay the monthly bills.

The bottom line is Piatt will contact the insurance man in order to set up a meeting with all involved. Stevenson and Adsit said they could even meet somewhere close to Meadville to make it more convenient for everyone.

Piatt was setting this up as he wanted to take care of the discussion before the department's February meeting on Wednesday, February 10.

On a lighter, tastier note, Adsit said they had been enjoying the pancake breakfasts, which are an undertaking of the department and take place on the third Sunday of each month. They discussed the great food for a bit and then moved on to another topic.

A special guest arrived unexpectedly during the meeting as well. It was Trooper Sternby of the Pennsylvania State Police who had popped in to observe. From time to time a trooper attends various township meetings and it was Greenwood's turn.

After the Road Master, Greg O'Day, gave his report, Stevenson said he had a request. He asked that when anything is purchased by O'Day or the crew, that more details be listed on the bills. For instance, if a light is purchased, Stevenson would like to know if it's for a truck and if so, which one. They are going to write the license plate number and a description of the vehicle on the bill in order to keep track.

They said this would help with the bookkeeping in general and would also aid them for budgetary purposes.

Evidently a township employee recently got a touch perturbed concerning his pay check and treated Stevenson, O'Day and Secretary Maxine Hart in an unprofessional and rude manner.

Stevenson did not mention the name of the person but said that he became upset when the paycheck had been mailed as he wanted to be able to pick it up instead.

Stevenson said he's still not happy about the way he acted and O'Day agreed that it was not proper behavior.

Moving along, the school district is appealing the new assessment of PGW, formerly known as PPG. Stevenson said the prior assessment was $3,124,000 and the new assessment is $1,825,000.

The township applied for a grant in the amount of $33,000 to do some work on Captain Williams Road. Stevenson said it's in committee currently.

Prior to the close of the meeting, Secretary Hart asked Piatt for a list of firefighters. She also requested the last four digits of their SS numbers for insurance purposes. Piatt is going to get the list together for her.

The next meeting will take place at the township building at 14743 F Road, Atlantic and will begin at 8 PM on March 1.