MAHANOY CITY - Snow plowing along township roads was the major complaint from the public at Thursday's meeting of the Mahanoy Township Board of Supervisors.
The complaints came during the public portion and ranged from roads not plowed to those not plowed wide enough. Edward Applegate, Buck Mountain, was the first to speak.
"I'm talking about snow plowing on the hill. Sometimes it's nonexistent," Applegate said. "There were two times that the road wasn't plowed, and on the garbage collection day, the garbage man didn't come on the hill and so the trash in front of the houses stayed until the next week. We had to keep putting the trash out every day because you didn't know when the garbage man might come back. In the past storm, no one plowed the hill. It needs to be done."
"I understand that," supervisor Chairman James Stevens said. "We've had problems. People have complained, and they have all the right to. We're trying to do what we can about it."
"That road is bad enough in the summertime," supervisor Vice Chairwoman Sharon Chiao said.
"Eventually, the township truck came and put some cinders down," Applegate said. "On Sunday morning, I widened the road. I gained at least five feet in width on the road."
Stephen Krolick, Morea, asked the supervisors how Roosevelt Drive is plowed.
"The plowing is now from one side to the other. Everything goes to our side. They never did that," Krolick said.
"That's because the drains are all on your side," Chiao said. "There are no drains on the side where your mom lives."
"But now the drains are all blocked," Krolick said. "I've been cleaning out the drain in front of my place, but it's too frozen."
Krolick said that the problem is that the plow driver isn't getting close enough to the mailboxes, so that after each snowfall, the road gets narrower.
"The way we're looking at it is that we're waiting for this thaw and the next thaw and then start removing some of that stuff," Stevens said.
"If the snow plow would have cleared it better and kept it going and kept it wide, but they didn't," Krolick said. "They plowed it a little bit, and once it freezes, you're not going to move it with a plow. You can move it when it first comes down. Luckily, it's going to get cold again because I'm going to get flooded out in my garage and house. When the snow melts and that water starts coming down the mountain, where is it going to go?"
Lee Vanhorn, Park Place, asked what road equipment the township has, with Stevens replying that vehicles include a five-ton dump truck, a three-ton dump truck with a plow, a Ford F350 pickup with a plow, a Ford F250 pickup with a plow and a backhoe with a plow.
"We have the equipment. We did advertise for someone to help out," Stevens said. The road crew usually has three employees but is currently at two right now.
"The guys are putting long hours in," Stevens said.
"I know in Park Place that the guys did as well as they could, but there was one or two vehicles that were frankly left in your way," Vanhorn said. "Can't anything be done with these people?"
Patrolman Brandon Alexander said that a Jeep was moved to clear a spot. Park Place resident John Byer said that one vehicle was parked in the right-of-way and just left there. Solicitor Eric Lieberman said that vehicles parked in the roadway can be cited as a vehicle code violation.
Vanhorn asked about the planned drainage project along Park Place Road, with Stevens explaining that the project will be going out for bids.
"I did get complaints for the previous storms, and Brandon and I went out Thursday during the storm and we drove every road in the township," Supervisor Faith Ward said. "I reported to Jim (Stevens) what was plowed and what wasn't. That's one reason why were looking for another person (for the road crew). I can see why some people are disgusted. Some of the roads were terrible."
Stevens thanked everyone who helped with snow cleanup after the storms. He asked residents to clean snow away from fire hydrants.
During the business portion of the meeting, the supervisors approved appointing Arro Consulting Inc. as the township consulting engineer, replacing Alfred Benesch & Co.
After a short executive session, the supervisors approved raises of 50 cents per hour for Alexander and road foreman Steve Fegley, and 40 cents per hour for Secretary/Treasurer Cheryl Backo. The vote was 2-1, with Chiao voting against.
"There are no other raises. In six months, there will be evaluations and go from there," Stevens said.
A property at 1267 W. Centre St. purchased through a public auction for $1,100 by Fantastic LLC, through the Schuylkill County Tax Claim Bureau was approved by the supervisors.
Stevens announced that the next recreation committee meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the municipal building. After this month's meeting, the committee will meet on the fourth Thursday of each month.
The township is accepting applications for a part-time employee for the road crew. Applications can be obtained at the municipal building.