Contract awarded to repair Hidden Valley Road in Peters Township
Traffic on Hidden Valley Road is limited to one lane around where the pavement is crumbled.
Traffic on Hidden Valley Road is limited to one lane around where the pavement is crumbled.
Work should start in the next few weeks to remedy a situation that has caused a stretch of Hidden Valley Road to be limited to one lane.
Peters Township Council voted July 24 to award a $290,302 contract to Domenic Bioni Contracting for construction of beam and lagging walls to stabilize a slope next to the road, which serves as the only vehicular access to and from Valley Brook Country Club.
“This is less than what we thought it would be,” township manager Paul Lauer said about Bioni’s bid, which was $153,000 less than the next lowest of four bids received.
Council also authorized issuing a check of up to $30,000 to pay for the relocation of West Penn Power and Comcast utility poles and lines. With an additional $45,000 for engineering fees, the total cost of the project is in the neighborhood of $363,000.
“It will be a couple of weeks before they can get out there and actually relocate the poles,” township engineer Mark Zemaitis said about power company workers, “and maybe another week until Comcast relocates. So we’re hoping Sept. 1 to see some real action out there with respect to the slide.”
Even thought the actual cost looks to be far below the original estimate of $500,000, the township still needs to pay a considerable amount for the project.
“Our intention is to come back to council with a budget amendment and reduce the money that’s been appropriated for various projects,” Lauer said. “Some of them are savings that we’ve been able to realize. Others are projects that are delayed.”
He cited the example of $100,000 earmarked in 2017 for streetscape improvements in the McMurray Town Center area, in the vicinity of the East McMurray-Valley Brook Road intersection.
“We have every intention of wanting to do that,” he told council, but the state Department of Transportation has yet to issue the necessary permits. “I don’t imagine we’ll be in a position to be able to do the construction of that project this year, so that money would become available.”
Also, he said, the state Department of Environmental Protection has yet to issue permits for a storm sewer improvement project on Sugar Camp Road, for which $200,000 has been budgeted.
In other business at council’s July 24 meeting:
• Lauer discussed future access to and from the former Rolling Hills Country Club property, which is earmarked for the municipal Peters Hill Park and a new Peters Township High School.
“It’s important that we come to some common understanding between the two entities as soon as possible,” he said, as the process of obtaining a permit from PennDOT could be protracted.
Of two options presented, the consensus of council members is to construct a roundabout, rather than a turning lane. The new access point would be slightly to the east of the existing entrance off East McMurray Road.
“The stream in this location is all piped, which means it will make it easier to get permits,” Lauer explained. “You won’t have to deal with the DEP on closing a stream.”
The nature of the road also has yet to be determined, “whether it’s to be a private drive, in which case the township and the school district share maintenance on it,” he said.
“Is it a public road, in which case it gets turned over to the township and we maintain it? If it’s a private drive, you can close it off. If it’s a public road, you can’t. We need to have this discussion at some point so we can move forward with this project,” Lauer told council.
• Council approved a change order for the concession stand and restroom under construction at Peterswood Park’s Field No. 5, resulting in a net decrease of $7,193 in the contract price.
One component of the change order is providing a specific color of paint that best matches existing buildings in the park, costing an extra $6,307. Offsetting that is a savings of $13,500 for installing a chain-link fence on top of a retaining wall instead of stainless-steel railing.