During their April 8 meeting, the Allen Township Board of Supervisors discussed safety enhancements at the intersection of Kohls and Indian Trail roads.
The intersection was recently reopened following bridge construction by PennDOT. This new construction included adding a guardrail to Kohls Road, alongside the Hokendauqua Creek. However, the township is wondering whether this rail can be extended to improve safety for drivers.
Township engineers looked at the intersection and confirmed that, while the length of the guardrail does meet state standards, a sharp turn or icy conditions could result in vehicles tumbling down the bank’s steep slope.
In addition, a guardrail on the opposite side of the road, shielding a culvert, has been hit several times by drivers and is currently damaged. Supervisor Dale Hassler said it is impeding regular-sized cars, not to mention emergency vehicles.
Township Manager Ilene Eckhart said guardrails are “expensive.” However, Eckhart, engineers and supervisors wondered whether PennDOT could reassess the guardrails when their maintenance team comes out to the site to fix the recent damage. They may take it upon themselves to extend the creek-side rail for additional safety.
In other news, the township has accepted several bids for road work at Village Drive, Jennings Run, Walking Purchase Circle, Yeats Run and Marshall Run. These roads have not been milled or overlayed since their construction. Engineers will review the received bids before making a recommendation to supervisors. This work will be paid for using liquid fuel funds.
Supervisors also approved payments for completed municipal building renovations. These payments included $51,585.00 to ASL Refrigeration, $194,491.13 and $8,684.50 to Mohawk Contracting, $10,115.78 to the Warko Group, and $5,100.30 to Albarell Electric.
Work on the roof and protective, ballistic glass windows is still outstanding from Mohawk Contracting.
Phase II of the building’s renovation is expected to start in mid-April and be completed by July.
Finally, supervisors are preparing a new ordinance that will reduce the number of Recreation Board members from nine to five. This will make it easier to achieve the quorum needed to conduct business. In addition, this new ordinance will forbid supervisors from serving on the board.
“Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s right,” Hassler said. Currently, supervisors are legally allowed to sit on other township boards. However, should three or more supervisors be in attendance, this would violate the Sunshine Act, and forbid supervisors from speaking as members of the public.
In addition, the township is considering hiring a part-time or seasonal Parks and Recreation coordinator to help carry out actions voted on by the board. Eckhart will be gathering information on potential costs and job descriptions to present to supervisors.
The next Board of Supervisors meeting will be on Tuesday, April 22 at 6 p.m.
