Sanitation will be making a route change, as discussed during last week’s council meeting.
According to township manager Chris Schultz, Casworth Waste Services is recommending route changes based on its first six months in the township to provide a more efficient service.
The changes will occur for residents north of Route 70 and west of County Route 541, due to the growth continuing with residential units, according to Schultz.
The change will have the waste services in the town five days, as opposed to the current four.
According to Schultz, park collection will move to Mondays. Additionally, trash services will provide pickup following events that take place over a weekend.
Notices will go out to residents and the route change will go into full effect Oct. 1.
In other news:
• Council discussed existing bond fund authorizations as part of debt services. Some of the bonds have not yet been funded, according to Schultz.
“The township has been reviewing various bond authorizations from past years. At this time, council is cancelling approximately $206,000 and still reviewing the remainder, with the exception of recommendations provided by me for various projects and/or equipment,” Schultz said.
The use of the bond money may contribute to information technology upgrades and enhancements, including equipment to video stream council meetings — which has been discussed on more than one occasion — the road overlay program, replacement of two public works dump trucks and facility repairs to the public works garage and the public safety building.
“Some of the former bonds’ purposes were for items no longer needed and will need to be repurposed,” Schultz said.
• The township will be reorganizing its departments as a result of downsizing.
According to Schultz, he has been considering restructuring based on current operation relationships and future considerations of personnel.
There should be no impact to current employees other than some of the reporting relationships, Schultz said.
• The smoking ban, which has been discussed since June, was adopted on second reading.
The ban comes on the heels of surrounding townships passing similar ordinances prohibiting smoking on township property or public parks. In some cases the ordinance encompasses both.
Council provided Schultz with the authority to designate smoking areas throughout the township.
“I will be visiting the various facilities in the next few weeks to review and locate smoking designated areas,” Schultz said.
• Council passed a resolution pledging its support for the state Division of Highway Traffic Safety’s Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over Labor Day Crackdown.
The grant, recently released by the division of traffic safety, provides up to $50 an hour for overtime for impaired driving enforcement to take place Aug. 16-Sept. 2.
The fund will make up the difference in overtime rate, according to Schultz.
The next township council meeting is scheduled for Aug. 20 at 7:30 p.m. at the Public Safety Building, located at 91 Union St.
