Jackson Twp. supervisors award bid for first phase of Wheatland Woods project

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The Jackson Township Board of Supervisors awarded a $189,217 bid to Woodland Contractors at their June 16 meeting, contingent on receiving additional information, for the first phase of the Wheatland Woods project.

Phase one will include putting in walking paths and an access drive, redoing the parking lot, adding perimeter fencing, and clearing and grubbing the area.

Woodland Contractors was the lowest bid out of the nine that the township received. The next lowest bid was about $90,000 higher.

Supervisor Thomas Houtz said he wasn’t in favor of developing Wheatland Woods Lot 107, but said they got a good price for the work.

Costs could increase as the work begins. Any change orders would be brought to the board.

“Depending on what we run into back there, change orders can always increase that,” Houtz said. “We always try to get all our heads together and plan ahead and hopefully minimize change orders.”

He said they hope to start the work soon and have it mostly completed before the cold weather starts to roll in.

Before they begin, engineer Stephen Sherk said they will hold planning meetings to go over the project and give some direction on what the township wants to be done.

“We’ll be sure to schedule a preconstruction meeting,” he said. “We’ll go over that clearing plan in detail because we have some specific notes on the plan as far as that is concerned. We want to make sure everybody’s on the same page.”

The township submitted a grant request for phase two. Township officials expect to hear around the end of 2025 if they will get financial assistance to pave the walking paths, put in pickleball and basketball courts, add ADA access from the parking lot, and landscape the area.

In other business, supervisors:

• Awarded a contract to Woodland Contractors to complete the 60 N. Ramona Road basin modification project for $29,621.
• Awarded a contract to Spear Excavating of Montgomery County to redo the township parking lot. The base bid was $109,219, and the township included an alternate bid to do the garage area for $3,384.87.
• Awarded a $11,604.05 contract to Lincoln Pavement Services to paint 39,435 feet of road lines. They will paint white and yellow lines on Houtztown Road from Rosebud Road to the township line, Pleasant Road, Deep Run Road, Halfway Drive, Williams Road, Eisenhauer Road, Yeagley Road, West Strack Drive, and Shady Lane. They will do yellow lines only on Benjamin Circle, Blaine Street, Lorraine Street, and the roads in the Apple Creek Development.
• Approved several Municbid sales of township equipment. Three out of the five items were successful, with a ground pounder asphalt compactor bringing in $612, and two 2002 high-performance generators bringing $201 and $302. The 2007 John Deere 6430 tractor and the 2011 John Deere backhoe did not make the reserve price through bidding. Supervisors agreed to relist the unsold items after township officials try to sell directly to some local municipalities.
• Voted to increase first responder and library donations by $1,000 each. The township will donate $7,000 to Goodwill Fire Police, $10,000 to Myerstown First Aid, $14,000 to Keystone Fire Co., $12,000 to Kutztown Fire Company, and $7,000 to the Myerstown Community Library.

The Jackson Township Board of Supervisors will meet next at 60 N. Ramona Road on July 7 at 7:30 p.m.