Township road master Francis Allio said that, to his pleasant surprise, no township road signs were stolen this fall.

Allio said road name signs typically turn up missing each fall when classes at Clarion University resume. No signs went missing this spring during the university’s spring break, he added, also a departure from tradition.

Allio said he plans to apply for highway safety grants available from the federal government. PennDOT representative Allen Williams told him at the recent township county convention that $5,000 grants for safety project are available.

The money could be used for new signs and delineation along Pine Hollow Drive , he said, or remove some road bank or perform more daylighting.

Supervisor Matt Ellenberger noted there’re has been “more than one incident” along Pine Hollow; Allio confirmed there have been three accidents there recently.

The grant is of type where the township covers the cost and is reimbursed later.

Supervisors discussed the timing of the traffic signals in Leeper, and agreed the light change periods are too short.

They directed Allio to contact PennDOT and ask them to change the signal timing.

Lower standards

Township landfill inspector Bill Hall reported County Landfill ’s new NPDES permit, which relates to the quality of water discharged from the site, includes more lenient standards than previously.

The permits are issued by the Department of Environmental Protection every five years, and the standards in the permit for the pervious five years were higher, Hall said.

Supervisor Gene Frederick asked how the new permit compares to the permit issued ten years ago, and Hall said he would check the records.

To challenge the permit, the township would have to appeal to the Environmental Hearing Board, an administrative law court in Harrisburg that considers appeals to DEP decisions.

Ellenberger moved to forward the permit information to attorney Ronald Kuis of Pittsburgh , the township’s legal counsel on environmental matters; the motion passed unanimously.

Hall said some of the standards eliminated were those involving pollutants that had not been detected or were found at minimal levels.

But other standards that were eliminated or loosened were those the landfill was previously found to be in violation of in August. Eliminated were arsenic and nickel; loosened were cyanide and aluminum.

Other eliminated standards included antimony, barium, lead, selenium, silver, thallium, vanadium, lindane and DDT. Lowered standards included iron and manganese.

Supervisors also…

lForwarded a letter from owners of a seasonal property who are objecting to the mandatory water and sewer connection to township legal counsel Terry Heeter.

Mellon said the landowners feel the regulations don’t apply to them. “Have their attorney contact our attorney,” Frederick said.

lDecided to consider a request for a donation from the Clarion-Forest Visiting Nurse Association during budget discussions before the end of the year.

The VNA is planning a new, $1.5 million building near Clarion Hospital , Mellon said, and is requesting a donation of $4 per residence per year over the next five years.

lHired DASCO Plumbing of Shippenville to test and certify the backflow preventer on the connection to the Pennsylvania American Water system at a cost of $180.