The West Penn Township supervisors discussed the following on Monday:

New equipment

The board of supervisors approved a motion to purchase a new tractor, front-end loader and mower. The price for the AG Industrial tractor and loader is $69,043.87. The mower is a piece of Hoober Inc. equipment and will cost $13,600.

Supervisors decided to reallocate nearly $80,000 - which was originally put aside to construct a pole building - in order to move forward with the purchase of the new equipment.

“I don’t have a problem moving the money from the pole building to buy this piece of equipment, because lumber costs are just astronomical,” Houser said. “The $80,000 we have set aside would never pay for the pole building right now. Cost probably doubled.”

The township’s old tractor is leaking transmission fluid and has to be split to even look at it, said Tony Prudenti, board chairman.

“The tractor on a normal basis, we could really only use two or three months a year when we’re mowing,” said Clint Schock, West Penn’s road crew master, who said the mower is 15 years old.

“Then it sits. But if you put the loader on, all of our skid-loader attachments can go onto it. For example, we can push snowbanks back - it goes from a two-month machine, to a 12-month machine.”

Recycling update

Although no firm timeline was given, West Penn Township is moving even closer to beginning its recycling program, which will be exclusively for township residents.

To date, the township has spent roughly $16,000 to ensure West Penn has its own recycling program.

Concrete has been poured for the 20-by-30-foot site at the West Penn Fire Company, where the dumpster will be located. On Monday, supervisors awarded the bid of $4,098 to begin installing an 8-foot chain-link fence around the site, along with a 12-foot gate.

Expect further updates at the next township meeting in a few weeks. “Everything we’re doing here tonight, we’re doing without raising taxes,” Prudenti said.

Construction

The board approved a resolution designating a speed limit of 25 mph for motorists on Mush Dahl Road within West Penn Township between Route 443 and the first intersection of Chain Circle.

The board approved a motion to paint Spring Road and St. Peters Road.

“It has come to my attention by a couple of residents, that with fog and the way we’re patching the roads in the darkness, it’s very hard to tell what’s the middle of the road,” Prudenti said.

Prudenti said the plan is to scratch-pave and fix Spring Road and to put in new pipes on St. Peters road, and to tar and chip the roads next year.

“Until then, the safety issue of where is the middle of the road needs to addressed,” Prudenti said.