Jun 3, 2013 3 min read

CARMICHAELS – Cumberland Township supervisors voted Monday to seek bids for construction of a new pavilion at Wana B Park and agreed to partner with the county redevelopment authority in applying for a grant to address blighted properties.

The supervisors plan to construct the 884-square-foot pavilion using some of the township’s Act 13 drilling impact fee money. In adopting a budget for the year in December, the supervisors earmarked $107,000 for Wana B Park from the $1,039,586 the township received last year in Act 13 funds.

The township’s engineer, K-2 Engineering, will handle the bidding process. The bids will be open and possibly awarded at a special meeting at 4 p.m. June 13.

The supervisors agreed to partner with the Greene County Redevelopment Authority to apply for a grant from the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Act program, a program funded with the state’s share of Act 13 impact revenue.

The redevelopment authority will apply for a competitive grant from PHARE to address blighted houses in Cumberland Township and in several other municipalities in the county.

The goal of the redevelopment authority’s program is to provide housing in the community either through rehabilitating existing blighted houses or by constructing new houses, said Marcia Sonneborn, the township’s Community Development Block Grant coordinator and chairman of the redevelopment authority board.

Three houses are being targeted in Cumberland Township. They are at 266 Glades Run Road, 101 Olympic Street and 149 Stevenson Lane. Houses being considered for the program are included in the county’s repository of properties that have been delinquent in taxes for years and have failed to sell at upset tax sales and at judicial sales.

The supervisors also agreed to contribute $43,000 to the program if the redevelopment authority is successful in receiving the grant. The township’s share would come from its Act 13 money.

In other business, the supervisors agreed to accept a bid of $200 received by the county tax claim bureau for the private sale of a house on Third Avenue in Crucible. The house had failed to sell at judicial sale. The sale of the property will return it to the tax rolls.

The supervisors accepted the resignation of tax collector Christina Knestrick, effective June 28, and thanked her for her services to the township.

The supervisors appointed Pamela S. Whyel to the position. Whyel had run for the office and in the May 21 primary won election on both the Democratic and Republican ballots.

The supervisors also voted to appoint Russell Clark to the Cumberland Township parks and recreation board and approved a resolution supporting legislation to raise the threshold at which the township must pay prevailing wages.

Supervisor William Groves noted a township now has to pay prevailing wages on any road project that exceeds $25,000, which increases the township’s costs by about one-third. Townships would like to see that threshold increased, he said.