niedbala@observer-reporter.com
CARMICHAELS - Cumberland Township supervisors approved a resolution Monday adopting a new comprehensive plan prepared in conjunction with seven other municipalities.
The multimunicipal plan updates the township's existing comprehensive plan, which has been in place for the last 26 years, Supervisor William Groves said.
A comprehensive plan is a "blueprint for the future," Groves said. It helps define where the township would like to be years from now, he said.
The plan takes into account land use, housing, recreation, community facilities, historic resources, transportation and natural resources.
The new plan, Groves said, also will give the township a little more flexibility because it addresses issues on a multimunicipal rather than on an individual township basis.
The supervisors said they will propose including in the plan the preparation of a hydrological study of the entire county and a category for storm water and wetland issues separate from those involving potable water and sewage.
Other municipalities participating in the plan include Carmichaels and Greensboro boroughs and Dunkard, Greene, Monongahela, Perry and Wayne townships.
The supervisors approved the emergency status for a house at 83 Second St., Crucible, under the township's housing rehabilitation program. The emergency designation was needed because of structural problems with the house that need to be repaired immediately.
Emmett McKenzie of 346 Nesmith Road told the supervisors a gas drilling company recently drilled near his property and, as a result, he lost his well water. He said he has contacted the state and the company but has not yet received a response.
Groves told McKenzie the township, unfortunately, has no regulatory powers regarding gas well drilling and he would have to report the problem to the state Department of Environmental Protection.
In other business, the supervisors reorganized, re-electing Groves as president, Jim Sokol, vice chairman and Debbie Rush, secretary-treasurer.
The three supervisors, including Supervisor William Nicholson, also were appointed road masters.
The supervisors agreed to continue to meet at 3 p.m. the first Monday of each month. If the first Monday is a holiday, the meeting will be held the second Monday of the month.
Dennis Makel was appointed solicitor with a fee set at $90 an hour and $150 a month retainer; K-2 was appointed township engineer on an as-needed basis.
The supervisors approved 50-cent-an-hour raises for the township's 13 hourly employees.
They also approved an increase in compensation for the tax collector from $7,500 to $8,500.
The increase will take effect next year and will apply to the tax collector, who will be elected this year. It was requested by the current tax collector, Andrea Eitner, whose term expires this year.
The supervisors approved an agreement with Allegheny Power under which the company will replace all mercury vapor streetlights with halogen streetlights, which are brighter and less expensive to operate.