CENTER TWP — The township board ordered a replacement plow truck a year ago. Members are hopeful it will arrive soon.

Anthony Amendola, Center Township secretary and treasurer, said the insurance cards have already arrived. The truck should finally arrive Friday. It is a $125,000, 2019 Freightliner coming from a dealer in Barkeyville.

“I just find it fascinating it took a year to get the truck,” Ron Flatt, the board of supervisors chairman, said.

The late arrival, he said, had something to do with a strike at the engine plant for the vehicles.

Supervisors had plans to replace each vehicle in the township's six-plow fleet every other year. In 12 years, they'd have six new trucks.

“We didn't expect it to take a year to get the first truck,” Flatt said.

Fire Department Report

Nathan Wulff, chief of the Unionville Volunteer Fire Company, delivered a yearly department report.

The department handled 427 calls in 2018, up 112 over the year prior. Storms are to blame for much of the uptick, he said. The department had 31 firefighters work at least once in 2018. His figures show that, much like volunteer fire departments around the state, the department is gradually handling more calls each year with fewer people.

The three roads in the township with the most accidents, in order, were Route 8, Benbrook Road and West Sunbury Road.

VA Drainage

The township's engineer, David Heath of Gateway Engineers, confirmed Wednesday that plans have arrived for reconstruction of the Abie Abraham VA Health Care Clinic's three retention ponds, which as installed are blamed for flooding neighboring properties.

The township threatened to withhold the property's bond from its developer, Cambridge Healthcare, until the drainage problems were resolved.

In a phone interview Friday, Adam Pyles, the company's vice president of development, said Cambridge hopes to have work done this spring. The company will pay for the fix, he said.

Cambridge is answering to not only the township's demands, but also to the VA's and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, which formally ordered the company to resolve the problems. The clinic opened in 2017.

Complaint heard

Brad Cavaliero, treasurer of the Hull Plan Residents Association, spoke to the board about roadway brush allegedly being moved from elsewhere and dumped in his neighborhood by township employees.

His points struck a nerve for Flatt, who slammed his gavel after Cavaliero said: “On Nov. 25th, I received a video of Ed Latuska dumping yard waste on Hull Plan property.” Latuska is a board member.

Flatt said the complaint was personal in nature and should not be discussed with municipal business. He told Cavaliero he would check with township staff to see whether something inappropriate had occurred.