Cranberry Township supervisors are working through plans to upgrade the fuel island near the township’s public maintenance center.

The capital project would include various maintenance improvements to the fuel dispensers, terminals and main canopy.

While that objective still is in the early stages of the process, the topic was discussed at an extended special meeting Saturday, Oct. 26.

According to township manager Dan Santoro, supervisors already had prepared to upgrade the fuel island before a setback in the spring prompted a change of plans.

A contractor working near the site in May accidentally damaged a portion of the canopy that sits directly above the fuel station with the bed of his dump truck.

Officials allowed the legal process to play out before taking any further action.

“We had known we needed to do maintenance projects on the fuel island, so we had planned for a capital project to do that maintenance this year,” Santoro said. “Before we got to do it, the contractor hit the canopy and damaged it. We had to get through that insurance process before we could advance the project.”

Santoro noted that it has been more than two decades since any significant work was performed on the fuel island, which receives significant daily use from the township’s emergency vehicles.

Although the project won’t be completed until sometime next year, the accident allowed the supervisors to change course and make the project more all-encompassing.

“We’re not just doing the damaged piece, but in one bigger project, we’re also doing all the maintenance things that we needed to do anyways,” Santoro said. “That’ll all be planned for next year.”