During the Allen Township Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, May 11, Township Engineer Stan Wojciechowski reported back on his meeting with Tim Tepes, builder behind Tepes Construction’s North Hills development. He announced that Tepes has agreed to complete the development’s final road pavings by summer.
This announcement comes after a tense April meeting in which residents complained about the development’s weeds, vacant lots, and unfinished roadways.
“I don’t think it is fair to the people who are paying taxes to this township to not have a finished road in front of their house,” Supervisor Dale Hassler said at the time.
Construction has been paused in the development since 2019. An expired sewer agreement with the Borough of Northampton has prevented developers like Tepes from acquiring the necessary sewer EDUs for construction.
During April’s meeting, Tepes worried that newly paved roads would be destroyed once construction picked back up again. However, there is no word on when building will bounce back, as Allen Township and Northampton are still engaged in litigation regarding their sewer agreement.
Wojciechowski added that the weeds residents had previously complained about were also removed from the development.
Wojciechowski also reported back on his meeting with PennDOT engineers regarding the Howertown Road bridge replacement project. In March, PennDOT presented their bridge replacement plans, which included a detour that directed northbound vehicles five miles around the construction site.
This concerned some supervisors, especially Fire Chief Hassler, because volunteer firefighters would be “cut off” from the northern, more rural side of the township.
Hassler and other supervisors wanted PennDOT to consider a temporary signal that would let traffic continue north. However, Wojciechowski indicated such an agreement is unlikely.
During the meeting, he said PennDOT was “not willing to discuss temporary signals being put up.”
They argued that there is only a 90-second difference in traffic time and worried that a signal would negatively impact traffic on Route 329.
However, he said PennDOT engineers were “amiable” when it came to the idea of requiring southbound traffic to detour, as opposed to northbound traffic.
PennDOT will deliver its final recommendation to supervisors at a later date.
The next Board of Supervisors meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 25 at 7 p.m.
