The Morris Township Board of Supervisors met at the township office for their regular scheduled meeting. Present were Supervisors David Stockdale, Dave Dietrich, Doug Smith, Zoning Officer Bob Sanders, Carl Sanders and Public Notary John Kulik.
Chairman Stockdale called the meeting to order at 7:31 P.M. Minutes of the previous meeting were read. Motion by Stockdale, second by Dietrich to approve minutes as read.
In old business, the Supervisors had Public Notary John Kulik witness Chairman Stockdale’s signature for the West Penn Power Right of Way agreements for both the property at the park for electrical service to our Municipal Building construction project, and also for electrical service to our cinder shed and equipment site in the village of Prosperity. Secretary Lesnock will take notarized documents to the Washington County Recorder of Deeds office on Wednesday January 18th to have them recorded.
Township will solicit bids for the demolition of the Hathaway house and barn.
Pertaining to Electrical service at the Township’s cinder shed and equipment superstructure, the stake has been set to indicate the location of the electric pole. A bid from Tri State Supply Company for electrical materials has been obtained. The township will bury the conduit and run the electrical wiring through the conduit. A contractor will be hired to do the electrical connections. The inspection will be completed by Ralph Metz. The total cost should be somewhere around $2,500.00.
Dietrich stated there are two road slips on Weir Cole Road and the constant rainy weather is just making the road slips worse. The road crew has been doing “Band Aid” repairs by adding stone to the areas. But Dietrich said the township will have to decide how to make a more permanent repair. After much discussion, Dietrich will speak to Alfred Burns of Burns Drilling to see if he can give us some insight into the correct way to repair the road slip. It was mentioned that it is possible for the township to pay Alfred Burns a consulting fee for his information on how to repair the road slips.
Smith stated that he still thinks having township employees pay 2% of their insurance premium is a good idea and he believes that the amount the employees would pay toward their insurance premium could be raised with each passing year. Dietrich stated that if Smith wanted to have employees pay toward their insurance premiums, he should have brought up the issue to be discussed back in October or November of last year. He stated that Smith also should have had actual monetary figures that each employee would have to pay so that he wasn’t just throwing out percentages and then demanding that a decision be made. Discussion ensued and then Smith stated he felt it would be worth discussing the issue later on this year. Stockdale felt it was worth discussing how the cost could possibly increase incrementally so that each employee could be aware of what the cost could be in the ensuing years. Dietrich also added that he does not want Smith to compare what Smith earns or what Smith has to pay toward insurance with what a township employee earns, etc. As they are not the same job. Smith agreed and stated that in the future he would obtain wage figures, etc., from other municipalities so that it was a more equal comparison.
In new business, Dietrich stated that the 2001 Grader has been maintained by the township road crew. However, it has never had a complete service. Rudd Equipment will come to the township garage and service the grader.
Motion by Stockdale, second by Smith to review and pay bills. Motion by Stockdale, second by Dietrich to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 8:40 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy W. Lesnock, Secretary