Lowhill Township supervisors discussed the issue of Bear Road Bridge repairs during their March meeting.

Board Vice Chairman Buddy Wessner led the meeting in place of Chairman Richard Hughes who was unable to attend.

Ryan Christman, engineer, provided his comments to the board.

Lowhill originally had intentions of repairing Bear Road bridge on its own with township workers for between $40,000 and $50,000.

But, that plan may no longer be eligible, because of some dimension issues with the structure, so now the township may be required to replace the structure.

If that is the case, the cost could be between $300,000 to $400,000 to replace the entire structure.

A representative from state Sen. Pat Browne’s office, R-16th, is willing to assist Lowhill to get the original plans approved to replace the decking and the concrete and steel work.

That plan would bring in new steel beams and decking.

Wessner said the state wanted all PennDOT approved workers to do the repairs and not have the Lowhill township road crew do the work.

PennDOT was insisting workers had to be certified for this type of job, but Roadmaster Joe Kalusky is willing to do the repairs if he is allowed. Wessner agreed.

The board wants to find out if a waiver can be granted, so Lowhill can do the work instead of having work done by certified PennDOT workers.

Township Administrator Brian Carl will write a letter about the situation and proceed from there after hearing back from Browne’s office.

Christman said the bridge is inspected in April, so Lowhill could also wait to hear what that report details and, after that, inquire about the repairs, and if a waiver exists.

Christman did not believe the bridge’s problem was entirely the structure.

Wessner said he was in favor of obtaining a waiver to do the necessary repairs themselves for a lot less money than having to bring in certified workers to do a full replacement.

During the meeting, Kalusky provided the roadmaster’s report.

He reported the road crew did all necessary winter maintenance, some runoff cleaning, necessary repairs on township equipment, Tiger mowing and tree trimming in February.

In March, the road crew planned to do any necessary winter maintenance, tree trimming, some repairs on dirt roads and any cold patching that was needed.

Under new business, the board discussed the multimunicipal oil bid.

Wessner made a motion to award Midland Oil company a joint oil bid at $2.176 per gallon. Supervisor Robb Werley seconded the motion.

The Northlane Estates escrow account for 18 months maintenance will be done in May and the township will need to conduct final inspection to make sure there are no issues.

A member and an alternate for the township planning commission are still needed.

Glenroy Moyer was named an alternate to the township zoning hearing board.