Marissa Marmas, co-owner of Leiby’s Carriage Services, attended the Walker Township meeting to seek the supervisors’ approval to utilize the township’s Wildcat Park and pavilion. Leiby’s is known for providing horse-drawn carriages in local events and parades as well as trolley rides.

Leiby’s holds what they call “On the Farm Rides” for private parties and groups. They offer the group a trolley ride which takes riders around the valley. Each ride goes about 4 miles and runs for around an hour.

“Currently, we load and unload at Joan Leiby’s home,” Marmas explained. “We’re not really set up down there; there are no facilities, no area to host parties.

What I would like to propose is loading here at the municipal building, and we would set up a package deal with my customers where they want to have parties here (at Wildcat Park). It would generate some revenue for the township if they book a party here.”

Leiby’s would provide the insurance for the events. The supervisors voted to tentatively approve the venture, contingent on the township’s insurance carriers having no problem with it.

Road project bid

Supervisors voted to turn down the 2022 road project that was to be a joint venture with West Penn Township.

Roadmaster Chad Felty announced they received one bid from AMS of Center Valley. The bid was single coat for $1.87/square yard, double coat at $3.74/square yard. The four base bids were for work to Mountain Road, Kettle Road, Swamp Road and Reynolds Road, all at $1.87/square yard, for a total bid price of $95,781.40.

The alternate location bids: Shady Road, a section requiring double coat at $3.74/square yard, for a cost of $5,527.72. The lower part of Shady Lane, which would be at $1.87/square yard came to $11,206.91; and the other alternate Shady Lane at $1.87/square yard was $12,506.56. Another part of Shady Lane near Rosemont Dam came to $5,606.26. Reynolds Road was bid at $10,789.90. The total of the alternates was bid at $45,637.35.

The supervisors at first decided to only do the base bid projects and not the alternate projects; however, after further discussion, they voted to decline the base bid of $95,000 as well.

“It just seems a lot of money to put toward secondary roads,” suggested Supervisor Matthew Koch, “when main roads like Valley Road and Catawissa Road, which see a lot of traffic, a lot of trucks that use them, need more work.”

The other supervisors agreed, and will look further into doing repairs on those two roads instead.