Salisbury Township plans to include about $600,000 in its 2017 budget to fund a new fire engine for Western Salisbury Fire Company, under a plan approved by the board of commissioners.

Commissioners voted unanimously at the Aug. 11 meeting to approve a motion to fund a pumper truck for Western Salisbury Fire Department.

Marion Body Works, Inc., Marion, Wis., submitted a bid of $613,782.

The funding would need to be included in the 2017 township budget, according to Township Manager Randy Soriano.

The commissioners’ vote allows the fire company to begin the process of having the truck built, which takes about 300 days.

Western Salisbury used the Pennsylvania Costars 13 Contract and bypassed the formal bidding process, Soriano noted.

Costars is the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania cooperative purchasing program by which local public procurement units and state-affiliated entities are able to leverage contracts established by the Pennsylvania Department of Government Services, according to the DGA website.

“Costars saves a lot of time in solicitation of bids, advertising costs,” Soriano said, because the state has already done so, allowing municipalities to “piggyback” on the Commonwealth contract.

Western Salisbury formulated open specifications for the fire truck and selected vendors approved by Costars to submit a bid-proposal. Out of the four or five selected, only two vendors followed through with submitting a bid, according to Soriano.

Marion Body Works was selected for its “best-value” proposal. The other vendor included about 31 exceptions.

In other business at the Aug. 11 meeting, commissioners voted 5-0 to:

•Award $714,989.50 for the Potomac Waterline Replacement (Contract A) and for the Trout Creek Stormwater line installation (Contract B) to the low bidder, Joao & Bradley Construction Co., Inc., Bethlehem. The firm was one of five bidders for the project.

According to Soriano, the date and time of the first bid date was extended because of “traffic and weather-related issues.” The lower bid by Joao & Bradley saved the township about $30,303.25, Soriano said.

“The other good news is that the low bidder has completed successful work in the past for Salisbury and for Fountain Hill during my tenure there,” Soriano said.

•Approve the second payment of $76,194.71 to Charlie Nansteel Tree Service & Excavation, LLC, Bangor, for Phase II of the Lindberg Park Master Site Plan, which includes the interior pathway.

According to Soriano, the contractor completed installation of pressure-treated wood fences along the intra-park pathway, installed prep base for the pathway and has begun installation of Flexi-Pave, which is the pathway surface material.

To be completed: seeding of areas disturbed by excavation; installation of bike racks, benches and signs; painting parking lot aisles and providing and installing woodland seeds, the latter to be done after Oct. 15.

“I am very pleased with the work and cooperation that Nansteel Tree & Excavation has shown throughout this project,” Soriano said.

The Aug. 11 commissioners workshop included, according to the township agenda, discussion of a Municipal Planning Code amendment, as well as township policies updates.

The MPC zoning amendment would:

•Allow beekeeping as a permitted accessory use.

•Remove the maximum total floor area of 1,000 square feet for accessory buildings in a residential district on a lot of one acre or less.

•Implement changes for special sale display, i.e., promotional banners, balloons, floodlights, flags and lasers.

•Implement changes for temporary signs in a C-3 District.

•Correct typographical errors in the 2014 ordinance for yard requirements in a C-1 District.

The township planning commission and the board of commissioners must hold public meetings before a vote on the amendment.

Concerning township policies, these would be revised once staff feedback is received and if commissioners approve them, Soriano said. The updates include:

Telephone Communication Intra-office Etiquette

Cellular Devices Use

Social Media

Customer Service

Harassment and Hostility in the Workplace

Departmental Coordination of Incidents

Proper use of Township-Owned Vehicle

Rental Inspection Program

An executive session followed the workshop to discuss, according to a township statement provided to The Press, a “legal issue concerning MS4 enforcement actions under existing ordinance.”