Wallingford News

Nether Providence Switches Recycling Contractor

August 23, 2011 by admin

Beginning in January 2012 , a new firm, J. P. Mascaro & Sons headquartered in Audubon, PA, will be responsible for the township’s recycling program.

As the contract with the current contractor Suburban Waste Services is set to expire at year’s end, the commissioners had to make a decision on the program’s future.

The seven-member board had earlier ruled out bringing the program in-house once again or hiring a company to handle the weekly curbside pickups of co-mingled recyclables, as well as the collection of residential trash.

Those options being eliminated, the board had to choose among bidders for the recycling-only contract and did so at an early August meeting, selecting Mascaro, who was the low bidder, to handle the duties. The vote was 6 – 0 with one member abstaining due a conflict of interest.

The contract with Mascaro does not cover the provision of a dumpster for public use at the township public works yard on Brookhaven Road. The board will be addressing that issue in the future.

Currently Nether Providence Township residents pay residents pay a $68-per-year fee for the recycling service.

The Commissioners also discussed which size recycling container would work best for the program. The options of sizes discussed were 35, 48, and 65 gallon capacity containers. The township plans to make use of a $230,000 state grant it was awarded last year for its recycling program to purchase the new containers. A typical trash container is 34 to 48 gallons.

The board is inclined to recommend the use of the 65 gallon container, one reason being that studies have shown that larger containers encourage more recycling.

Woodward Road Bridge Project Status

August 22, 2011 by admin

Delivery of a major component, a box culvert, for the new bridge to replace one on Woodward Road that had partially crumbled is expected the week of August 15th.

The new span should take another three to four weeks for the completion of the project, according to Nether Providence Township Engineer Charles Catania.

Woodward Road has been closed to through-traffic since early June, when preliminary work was initiated.

Inspectors determined in July 2009 that the bridge had deteriorated to the point where one lane of traffic had to be temporarily closed and the weight limit reduced from 10 to 6 tons.

Earlier this year, the township hired McKinney Construction Co. of Media to replace the bridge at a cost of $315,501.

Funding for the work will come from a 15-year loan of $654,000 that Nether Providence has obtained from the Delaware Valley Regional Finance Authority.

“Team Up For Turf” Fundraiser For District Turf Fields

August 11, 2011 by admin

Driving past this sign at the High School over the past several days, I have wondered what a Turf Field is all about, and why is it necessary to have a fundraiser.

The Wallingford Swarthmore School District is in partnership with the school community to raise funds for the installation of two state of the art turf playing surfaces at King Field and the girl’s lacrosse/hockey field on South Providence Road. The goal is to raise $1,500,000 from community and corporate sponsors.

With their current natural grass surface, King Field and South Providence Road Field usage is limited to approximately 200 hours per year which restricts practices and prohibits their use during rain or snow. Turf fields could increase the use to 2,000 hours per year and allow spring sports to practice outdoors and compete when late spring snow and rain would have prevented field use. The upgraded turf fields could potentially attract larger district events, state tournaments and other large sporting events, and bring additional revenue to the district and the community.

The plan is to install the new playing surfaces in two phases. The goal of Phase 1 is to have the turf field installed at King Field by March 1, 2012, and Phase 2 is shooting for installation at the South Providence lacrosse/hockey fields by September 1, 2012.

To date the fundraising effort has raised over $263,000, and on August 17 at the Old Mill – Team Up For Turf will be hosting a end of Summer BBQ with food, drink entertainment, and Silent Auction to be held from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM.

For additional Turf Field information, and to learn more about the fundraising efforts visit Team Up For Turf.

Nether Providence Elementary School Overhaul Plans Unveiled

August 2, 2011 by admin

Nether Providence Elementary School

The Wallingford Swarthmore School District currently has one major renovation and expansion project underway at Wallingford Elementary School, but the design team behind the project is already looking ahead to an overhaul of another district facility.

Architect Kevin Godshall, a partner in Godshall Kane Architects LLC, of Ambler, presented the Wallingford-Swarthmore School Board with his firm’s vision for the future of Nether Providence Elementary School at its July meeting.

The proposal calls for tearing down a 1939 wing at the Nether Providence Elementary School located on Moore Road, retaining sections that came later and constructing an addition at the rear. The addition would sit on part of the current parking lot, and would reduce the number of parking spots from 150 to 76.

A major goal of the project would be to upgrade classrooms to about 800 square feet to accommodate modern day educational standards, and would also entail keeping separate bus and parent drop-off areas, leaving the playing fields intact, adding a service road on the north side of the building, and incorporating renewable energy features, such as geothermal heating and cooling.

Reynolds Construction Co., who has served as the district’s contractor for the Wallingford Elementary and Strath Haven Middle School projects, estimated the Nether Providence Elementary work would cost about $16.5 million, $5.8 million for the school addition, $5.7 million for renovation work, and $3.6 million of other costs.

A tentative schedule calls for work to commence in the summer 2013.

Nether Providence Commissioners Halt Combined Trash/Recycling Effort

June 21, 2011 by admin

Nether Providence Township Commissioners have put the brakes on the prospects for a combined trash and recycling contract for the township. The vote was 4 to 3 along party lines, to include recycling only alternatives in a request for bids from companies.

A task force of citizen volunteers appointed to study the issue had urged the board to at least consider awarding a contract to a single firm that could perform the curbside collection of waste and recyclables, the idea being the move could result in economies of scale and lower costs.

When the board recently discussed sending out a request for proposals to potential contractors, GOP board members made it clear they did not want the combined trash-recycling approach to be an option.

Republican Commissioners instead voiced support for continuing on with the current system, which involves residents contracting with one of multiple trash haulers serving the municipality and a single firm — currently Suburban Waste services — handling the pickup of recyclables.

Commissioner Mike Dougherty repeated views he had expressed at previous meetings that he had heard no complaints about the existing trash-collection system. He said the focus should be on making the recycling program cheaper and better.

Under the township’s present contract with Suburban Waste, each household pays $68 annually for recycling pickups.

Among the recycling options to be considered are signing a new contract with Suburban Waste, hiring a new contractor or bringing the service in-house, with township public works employees doing the recycling collections. Before Suburban won the job, the curbside pickups were handled by municipal crews.

The vote came on the heels of a board decision in April to not ask residents about combined trash-recycling collections through a survey. The board’s four Republicans were not in favor of the survey, while its three Democratic members supported querying residents on the issue.

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S. Clark Kendus