This is the video recording of the 3/25/25 Meet Make Tuesday Zoom meeting. It includes the Powerpoint presentation and the following Q&A and comments from the attendees.

Topics included Newtown Sewer Treatment Plant Decision, UM Sunoco Pipeline Fuel Leak, Meadow Conversion Project, Pedestrian Safety Updates, 2025 Liquid Fuels Road Repaving Program, Why Are Our Electricity (and Gas) Bills So High?, Update on Plan for a Public Mural, more…

Download the PPT notes with more details and links to background and related information: https://rebrand.ly/25Mar2025_MMT_PPT

 

UPDATE 3/27/24: The Newtown Township Supervisors approved the 2024 Road Program.

 

Joseph Schiavoni, Director of Public Works, has evaluated the bids and has put a paving package together to remain under the budgeted amount. The township had allocated $755,000 in the budget for paving to be paid by the General Fund, Highway Aid Fund, and American Rescue Fund.

 

This item was included in the 27 March 2024 BOS meeting under the Engineer’s Report. The Supervisors unanimously approved the Program.

 

The recommended paving includes (see map):

 

Base bid:

•  Eagle Rd. (portion), Farnsworth Way, Ashford Way, N&S Ascott Ct., Amaryllis Ln., Lotus Pl., Campus Dr; $542,114.10

 

Alternate bids:

• Alt #2 Cypress Place; $70,660.00
• Alt #3 Coachwood Ct; $43,005.45
• Alt #4 Mulberry Pl; $24,053.65
• Alt #5 Monterey Pl; $30,890.05
• Alt #6 Mahogany Walk; $33,783.80

 

For a total of $744,507.05

 

This totals 1.99 miles of township roadways. Note that there are approximately 71 miles of township roads requiring repaving every 20 years. Therefore, to merely keep up with current roadway conditions 71/20 or 3.55 miles of roads should be repaved per year. At this rate, the township is falling behind at about 1.5 miles of roads per year needing repair but not getting it!

 

The Municipal Liquid Fuels Program funds a range of projects to support the construction, reconstruction, maintenance, and repair of public roads or streets.

 

The amount of a municipality's allocation is based on its population and miles of roads on its approved liquid fuels inventory. To be placed on the system, a road must have a minimum of 33-foot right-of-way in a township and 16 feet in a borough. The "cartway" (drivable surface) must be a minimum width of 16 feet, and the road must be a minimum of 250 feet in length.

 

Newtown Township has 67.29 miles of roads that meet these criteria.

 

In 2022, Newtown will receive $558,474.88 in liquid fuels funds vs. $552,277.09 in 2021 – only a 1.1% increase.

 

Meanwhile, in 2019, the township received $611,209.38 in Liquid Fuels funds [LINK: https://sco.lt/6cVfMG] A PSATS video [LINK: https://youtu.be/tCtMp0qejRw] explains that the amount of liquid fuels funds have decreased in recent years "due toe the growth of alternate fuel vehicles and more fuel efficient cars."

 

“We appreciate that PennDOT recognizes that local government is an important partner of the transportation network in Pennsylvania, being responsible for 2/3 of the road miles in the commonwealth,” said Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors (PSATS) Executive Director David Sanko. “This liquid fuels distribution is an integral part of local funding, but by no means enough to cover the costs of building and maintaining our portion of the network.”