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Mt. Jewett to seek bids for pile of road millings |
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Written by Publisher
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Tuesday, 15 September 2009 |
Photo by Ted Lutz
Mt. Jewett Mayor Tom Geer, right, greets Serena Sluga, left, after her appointment Monday as a junior council-person in Mt. Jewett. A senior at Kane Area High School, Sluga is the daughter of Kathy and Scott Sluga of 23 Oberg Ave., Mt. Jewett. She will take part in meetings of the Mt. Jewett Borough Council, but does not have a vote.
By Ted Lutz
Republican Staff
MT. JEWETT – Rather than deal with individual requests for pieces of the pie, the Mt. Jewett Borough Council will be selling an entire pile of road millings to the highest bidder.
Acting at its meeting Monday, council voted 6-0 to seek bids for the removal of the pile from the borough public works lot at the end of McClellan Avenue.
Council President Chuck Paar joined Councilmen Brett Morgan, Wil Antrim, Paul Ewing, Don Martyna and Brad Lannen in voting to sell the entire pile to one person.
Morgan said the "only way to get rid of it fairly" is to seek bids for "the whole shooting match." Numerous individuals have offered to buy loads of the millings, which came from Division Street during the recent paving project. An estimated 900 tons of millings – chunks of old blacktop – are piled at the borough public works lot.
Morgan said the successful bidder will be asked to remove the pile within 30 days.
Money received for the millings will be used to help cover the cost of the paving project. IA Construction of Franklin completed the project at a cost of $106,827.33. This is about $1,300 higher than anticipated. Council is hoping the sale of the millings will offset the additional cost of the project.
"Let's see what people are willing to pay," Morgan said.
There is no minimum bid, but council reserves the right to reject all offers.
In other business at the 70-minute meeting at the Mt. Jewett Memorial Library, council:
•Appointed Serena Sluga as a junior council-person. Sluga, a senior at Kane Area High School, can sit at the council table, but does not have a vote.
She is Mt. Jewett's first junior council-person since Brett Morgan. He now holds one of the seven seats on the council. He also is the water plant operator in Mt. Jewett.
Paar said the junior council-person program is "a good opportunity for young people to see the workings of the borough."
•Received notice that the Mt. Jewett Rotary Club will provide prizes for council's Christmas lighting contest.
Council also discussed a proposal to place lighted Christmas trees in nine windows at the Skoog House on Main Street (Route 6).
•Heard a report from Paar on last week's community meeting on plans by the Mt. Jewett Charter School Coalition to open a state-authorized charter school in the borough.
He said the Coalition is looking at the Geer Contractors building on Main Street as a site for the school.
He said it would be "very, very doable" to renovate the building for classrooms.
•Received notice that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has approved reduced speed limits for East Main Street (Route 6).
A 25 miles per hour (mph) speed limit will begin just east of Bridge Street.
Council authorized Maintenance Supervisor Rod Peterson to order new speed-limit signs and two signs to warn motorists of a reduced speed limit ahead.
•Discussed a plan to contact borough residents who drive large trucks to seek their cooperation in keeping heavy vehicles off residential streets.
•Tabled a request from the Mt. Jewett Volunteer Fire Department to pay half the cost of a bill for $2,903.70 for repairs to a fire truck. Council will consider action on the request when it receives the invoice for the work.
•Declined to act on a request to use budgeted library money for mulch and bulbs. Council pointed out that the borough's library budget is for "capital projects" and repairs.
•Received notice that Russ Braun, the building code enforcement officer for Jones Township in Wilcox, is willing to perform inspections in Mt. Jewett under the state Uniform Construction Code (UCC).
Council tabled the notice. The borough already is using UCC inspector Mark Grassi from the Commonwealth Code Inspection Service in Bradford.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 20 October 2009 )
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