LANCASTER TWP — Township supervisors approved three contracts for the completion of an annual maintenance project on the township’s roads at a meeting Monday, April 17.

“Some of our roads need some significant work,” township manager Michael Foote said.

The township awarded a $127,834 contract to Russell Standard for seal coating. Contracts also were awarded to McClymonds Supply and Transit — one for aggregates materials, and one for cold patching at $119.07 per ton.

This was the second round of bids for the project, according to board chairman Greg Kessler.

“Whenever we did it the first time, we weren’t happy with the initial bids,” Kessler said. “We went out for bids a second time, we compared that to some other municipalities ... and made sure we were getting good pricing.”

Foote said township staff also is looking into options to support road maintenance.

“We’ve been talking about a Butler County Conservation Grant program,” Foote said. “We’ve also been looking at two multimodal grant opportunities.”

A representative of the Butler County Conservation District recently visited the township, according to Foote, and reviewed several township roads for the county’s dirt and gravel/low volume roads grant program.

“One of which did meet the criteria for the program,” Foote said. “Staff will be attending a training next month, and once we have received that training, then we can apply for that grant — which we plan to do.”

A Pennsylvania Department of Transportation representative also reviewed roads in the township for a potential Multimodal Transportation Fund program grant.

“We just reviewed several of our roads that could be incorporated in the multimodal grant program,” Foote said. “He has provided us with an estimate of what the cost of a project would be.”

The next step, according to Foote, is meeting with township engineer Tom Thompson and staff to determine “the logistics of what that project should look like.”

“After we’ve reviewed it, we will bring a recommendation to the board,” he said.

Foote said the cost and scope of the project is in its early stages, and the township also would be looking into the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s Multimodal Transportation Fund program grant.

“It’s all very preliminary right now,” Foote said.

Kessler signed a proclamation designating May 21 through 27 as “National Public Works Week” in the township.

“The public works professionals that we employ are vital to maintaining and developing our infrastructure, maintaining our facilities and services,” Kessler said. “They are vital to the public safety, the quality of life and the well-being of the residents of Lancaster Township.”

Kessler said 2023 marks the 63rd annual national Public Works Week.

“These men, especially if you look at the storms we had over the last couple weeks, are called out all hours of the night, work long hours to maintain our infrastructure, our roads,” Kessler said. “They look out for public safety, so we certainly want to recognize them.”

The township’s new solicitor, John Bench, introduced himself Monday.

“I just want to say that I grew up in a very rural area, on the far eastern edge of Westmoreland County, on the side of a mountain in Ligonier Township,” Bench said. “We had a 10-acre chicken farm, and we heated our house just with wood from the property.

Bench operates Bench Law, Limited in Cranberry Township and lives in Adams Township.

“When I say that I appreciate the concerns of people who live in rural townships and understand the needs of rural townships in 2023,” Bench said, “I’m speaking not just from speculation but from personal experience.”

Bench said his background is in real estate law and that he also worked for a large firm providing solicitors in Butler County.

“I appreciate and respect every citizen, and I’m just honored by the board’s trust in me,” Bench said. “I’m just here to help them do the best they can.”