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Swatara Township supervisors voted on Feb. 13 to move forward with three street pavings and an oil and chip project this summer.
The lower end of Kenbrook Road will be oiled and chipped. The southern end of Old Route 22, Chestnut Street, and part of South Lancaster Street just south of Route 22 will be paved.
After the December meeting, township manager Jennifer Harding said the paving projects have a total length of about a mile. Supervisor Richard Kreitzer said there isn’t a specific timeline yet, but they’re looking at doing everything over the summer.
“We do try to have it all done before school starts,” Kreitzer said. “Whoever wins the bid, we tell them June, July, August until school starts, wherever that date may be. We want to try to have it all done and lined before the school buses fly.”
Harding provided estimates for the projects, though they are subject to change based on what bids the township receives.
Old Route 22, Chestnut Street and South Lancaster Street are estimated to cost $270,950. Kenbrook Road, she said, is estimated to cost $37,774.10.
“That road is disintegrating,” she said. “It’s in bad shape.”
She said the township budgeted $300,000 for paving projects in 2025. If bids come in at the estimated prices, the roadwork projects would cost a total of $308,724.10, about 2.9 percent over budget.
Roads won’t be fully closed down while crews are working, supervisor Dean Patches said.
“If people have to get through, they do let them,” he said. “We notify all the residents a week ahead, say we’re paving this day, and most people are very cooperative and move their cars or whatever they got to do.”
Cemetery Road paving request
Several residents attended the February meeting to ask supervisors to pave Cemetery Road, which they said becomes dangerous during winter weather despite the township’s cindering efforts.
“This is our third meeting, I think, about getting this road black-topped,” resident Brian Smoot said. “But it’s come to a safety issue. The mail lady can’t get up. It’s unsafe for her, so we’re not getting our mail.”
The Smoots said they also have personal safety concerns. They said it would be difficult for emergency vehicles like ambulances to reach them if there was a need.
Patches and Kreitzer said they don’t see the scenario as a concern. Patches said they haven’t heard of any instances where emergency vehicles weren’t able to make it to the houses on the unpaved road.
“Our fire company, we have two four-wheel drives, so we have no trouble getting anywhere,” Kreitzer, who is also chief of the Bunker Hill Fire Company, said.
The main supervisor concern with the situation is the cost. Kreitzer said it could take around $100,000 to blacktop the unpaved section of Cemetery Road.
“Is it right for all the taxpayers of Swatara to pay for 500 feet to get to your home?” Kreitzer asked. “Our road maintenance guy said it was 500 feet, and there was four homes, and there’s no base there, so that means it all has to be dug out. We have to put the proper base in to meet PennDOT standards.”
Patches said they will move the “no winter maintenance” sign back to its proper place at the bottom of the hill after he said it was moved illegally.
In the meantime, supervisors said they will look into grant opportunities that could help cover paving projects but applying for grants doesn’t ensure the township will be selected.
“[We’ll] see if there’s anything available,” Kreitzer said.
In other business, supervisors:
- Decided not to take action limiting commercial solar farms at the Thursday meeting. Solicitor Colleen Gallo recommended they speak to East Hanover Township because staff there spent a year researching before approving the ordinance. Supervisors said they don’t want to limit personal freedoms to put solar panels on commercial property but also don’t want to lose the area’s farmland.
- Unanimously voted to try out two artificial intelligence subscriptions, which supervisor Bill Bering said could help with township office work. He said ChatGPT, at $25 per user if billed annually, could help with day-to-day office work and writing emails. ClerkMinutes, at $99 per month, could record the township meetings and help generate meeting minutes. Minutes would still need to be edited, he said, but it could “free up” Harding to do other work during the day.
The Swatara Township Board of Supervisors will have its next regular meeting at 7 p.m. on March 13 at 68 Supervisors Drive.
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