Jul 9, 2015 3 min read

Canton Township supervisors on Thursday failed to approve a motion to permit a group of residents to use the township recreation hall as a satellite for Greater Washington County Food Bank.

However, supervisors plan to meet today with food bank pantry coordinator Lorraine Johnson, who will discuss logistics and answer questions board members have about the proposed plan.

Earlier this week, a group headed by residents Ron (Rocky) Harton and Ken Bonnell provided supervisors with an outline of their plan to start a food bank for Canton Township residents.

The group also organized an informational meeting with Johnson that was attended by supervisors Robert Franks and John Sheppard. However, Franks and Supervisor Sam Bear, who did not attend that meeting, still had several questions, including the impact a food bank outlet would have on the township’s insurance policy and liability.

“We’re checking as to what the insurance would cost to have the building insured on the two distribution days in case of an accident, or if anyone falls,” said Franks.

Sheppard, who is “100 percent for it,” made a motion at Canton Township’s board of supervisors meeting Thursday to permit the rec hall to be used on the first Wednesday and Thursday of each month as a satellite food center for the food bank to distribute food to qualified residents.

“I’m softening up to the idea, but I’m not ready to jump in yet,” said Bear.

Sheppard’s motion died for lack of a second.

Supervisors directed secretary Susan Hendrickson to contact the township’s insurance company this morning to determine the cost, if any, of an insurance policy rider to operate the food bank satellite.

The Greater Washington County Fsood Bank provides groceries and nutritional information to an estimated 25,000 Washington County residents who are food insecure. The food bank operates 42 distribution sites located throughout the county.

More than 30 percent of the food bank’s recipients are children under the age of 18, and more than 20 percent are seniors.

In other action, supervisors tabled a motion to award a bid for an improvement project at Jefferson Avenue Park after bids were opened at Thursday’s meeting.

“The bids came in way high, so we’re going to re-think it,” said Franks, saying the bids, which ranged from $117,000 to $168,000, were considerably higher than supervisors anticipated.

The project under consideration includes a proposed four-foot-wide paved walking path that several residents, including members of advocacy group TRIPIL, believe is too narrow to accommodate people in wheelchairs.

Other improvements include expansion of the parking lot and drainage work at the park, which is in a wetlands area, Franks said.