Reimbursement agreement for bridge repairs approved

Walnut Street bridge was weight restricted in 2013, now fully repaired

Hatfield officials have approved a reimbursement agreement that will make a big difference to the township’s bottom line, and close out a project that has been in the works for years.

The commissioners voted unanimously to approve a reimbursement agreement accepting just shy of $1 million in state grant money for recent repairs to the Walnut Street bridge.

“This is the easiest motion the board will ever consider,” said Township Manager Aaron Bibro.

Township officials have discussed the Walnut Street bridge length since 2013, when age-related deterioration led PennDOT to post weight restrictions limiting the size of vehicles that could cross.

“Buses couldn’t go over it, kids waiting for the school bus had to be relocated,” Bibro said.

In 2014 the board approved a $1.5 million borrowing to fund the complete reconstruction of the bridge, and applied to PennDOT in 2015 for reimbursement of roughly 80 percent of the total cost. Repairs began in fall 2016, and with a unanimous vote from the commissioners during their Feb. 28 action meeting, those funds for the fixes are now in hand: of the total project cost of $1.29 million, the PennDOT reimbursement will cover $1.09 million, leaving a total township cost of just shy of $259,000.

“The $1 million reimbursement was not a guarantee. It’s not something that every township gets, this is what I would consider more of a grant through PennDOT,” Bibro said.

“Without the grant, the township taxpayers would be repaying this bridge over the next 15 years. We had to do it, we had to fix it, and we’re able to do it at 20 percent of the cost, where other townships would’ve had to pay 100 percent,” he said.

The reimbursement resolution was unanimously passed by Hatfield’s commissioners during their Feb. 28 action meeting, along with resolutions authorizing several upcoming land development projects discussed in early February.

A land development plan was approved for Data-Logic, a company currently based in Telford and planning to build a new 16,000-square-foot headquarters building on a fiveacre parcel on Sterling Drive. Since discussion by the board in early February, the applicant has agreed to all of the conditions set forth in review letters by township consultants, according to planning and zoning officer Ken Amey.

Also approved was a minor land development request from Country Tyme Sheds, a storage shed business currently located at 713 Bethlehem Pike and planning to move roughly half a mile north to 847 Bethlehem Pike. The company plans to tear down several deteriorating buildings currently on the property, and keep one building for use as an office and sale area, Amey said; signed documents agreeing to conditions set out in review letters have also been received for that project.

“This is a win-win, given that you’re going to be cleaning up a property that’s somewhat not the greatest looking. That’s as gently as I can put it,” said board President Tom Zipfel.

The board also approved a resolution modifying an earlier land development plan for the Route 309 Plaza project at Bethlehem Pike and Orvilla Road, where one pad site on the southeast corner of that intersection will be developed into a Wendy’s fast food restaurant. Commissioner Bob Rodgers said his only concern about that project was that the area be graded and landscaped as soon as possible to prevent runoff from interfering with adjacent properties.

“We made it very clear that the improvements along that residential property line needed to be installed as part of phase one, and as early in the process as possible,” Amey said.

Other items approved by the board included a property line subdivision for a property on the 1300 block of Welsh Road, an amendment updating the Hatfield Township Municipal Authority’s definitions to comply with new federal regulations, and capital purchases of a new Public Works department pickup truck and a pole barn.

The board also voted unanimously to extend a conditional offer of employment to a new police patrol officer, and Zipfel and Bibro said the new hire should restore full staffing for the department, and if all necessary testing is completed in time, that officer and another hired in January could both be formally sworn in at the board’s March 28 meeting.

“We’re happy to do that, and we are hitting the target of exactly what we anticipated, and budgeted, and prognosticated throughout the last year,” Zipfel said.

Hatfield’s commissioners next meet at 7:30 p.m. on March 14 and 28, both at the township administration building, 1950 School Road. For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www.HatfieldTownship.org or follow @HatfieldPA on Twitter.

“This is the easiest motion the board will ever consider.” — Hatfield Township Manager Aaron Bibro