During their March 12 meeting, the Allen Township Board of Supervisors voted to extend work hours to Rockefeller developers, allowing them to conduct overnight concrete pours at Lots 4 and 5 along Willowbrook Road.
In August 2018, Rockefeller representatives asked for extended working hours to pour over one million square feet of concrete in Lot 5. Wet weather has led to only ten percent of that concrete being poured.
Rockefeller representatives said pours would begin at 1 a.m., with trucks running for eight hours. Work would extend into June. Lot 4 would require less than half of the number of concrete pours Lot 5 requires. Representatives also asked for extended hours on Sundays for both lots.
If the request had been denied, Rockefeller said all work would be done during the day, adding more trucks to the road.
Supervisor Gary Behler made several requests of Rockefeller before he agreed to approve the extension.
He acknowledged a problem with mud on Willowbrook Road. Rockefeller representatives offered to install a wash station to help clean truck tires.
Supervisor Larry Oberly also mentioned the problem with inbound truck traffic. Supervisor Dale Hassler agreed, saying that police enforcement would cost taxpayers three million dollars.
Rockefeller said that they would “work collectively with FedEx…to bring about solutions for inbound” truck traffic.
Supervisors were pleased with these promises.
“We are requesting something from you,” said Behler. “If you are willing to work with us on this, I am willing to work with you.”
Supervisors granted extended hours for Lots 4 and 5, but denied Sunday work to Lot 4, which sits near a wedding venue.
In other news, residents of Buckingham Drive appeared before supervisors to question the township’s actions of removing street trees in their development.
The township had previously required developers to plant trees along the curb. Now, the township is removing these trees, but not repairing the sidewalk cracks that the tree roots have caused.
Residents argued that the township should repair the sidewalks, as their tree ordinance is what damaged them. They called it “incidental damage.”
Supervisors said it is not the township’s responsibility to fix the sidewalks.
“The sidewalk is yours,” said Supervisor Larry Oberly.
“If public works damaged my sidewalk, would the township fix it?” one resident asked, to which Supervisor Gary Behler said he was comparing “apples and oranges.”
“[The township’s] intent was to beautify…incidentally [they] damaged the sidewalk. I had no say in the matter,” said the resident.
Residents also addressed communication issues. Some residents did not receive certified letters about the tree removal, while others who wanted their trees removed did not have them taken down.
