First Posted: 5/13/2014
The South Abington Township supervisors discussed the condition of Gravel Pond Road during its first meeting of the month on Monday night. Several complaints about the road come in weekly to the township building.
Improvements to the road include paving, drainage and widening some sections of the road from Noble Road to Old Lackawanna Trail Road. The road is used by many going to Abington Heights High School. The estimate to complete the road improvements ranges from $350,000 to $450,000. Engineer Jack Scheuer is developing a design plan for the work and the final cost for the project will be determined when the plan is completed.
“To do the project right the road will need to be dug up six inches,” Township manager David O’Neill said. “The work needs to be done. It is a significant project.”
The township will continue to patch the road as needed.
In other business, the supervisors passed a resolution to honor police officer Thompson E. Kreidler on his 33 years with the department. He was hired July 1980 and retired February 2014.
A county arts grant for $500 was awarded to Ghostlight Productions Shakespeare in the Park.
Justin Brown of South Abington Township and Joseph Dolan of Ransom Township were hired as summer seasonal employees.
“I would like to see the kids in the area have the first shot at these jobs,” supervisor Mark Dougherty said. “Maybe we can check with the high school to see if anyone is interested.”
The township received a grant from PPL for lighting and equipment. Three new lights were added to the back of the township building along with 10 new exit signs. Six wall units were installed at the park which included four at the bathrooms and two at the pump house near the splash fountain.
Property owners who are delinquent on their sewer bill will be sent a letter. The supervisors discussed several ways of collecting the money including putting a lien on the property, shutting off the water, and listing the names in the newspaper.
“South Abington has never shut off the water and I am not in favor of it,” O’Neill said.
The May 26 meeting has been cancelled for the Memorial Day holiday. The next township meeting will be June 9.