Union Township Weighs $243K Road Bills, 2027 Budget

Union Township supervisors vote tonight on paying $243,041.88 in full for the township's 2026 road project, two months after the township engineer said she was not recommending any payment until the contractor finished its punch list, and on sending the 2027 budget out for advertising. The Board of Supervisors meets at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, at the Township Building, 1445 E. Main St., Douglassville, per the township homepage. The agenda is linked from the homepage only; the township's eCode360 agenda archive still ends at July 16.

Road project payments

The board awarded the 2026 road project in January to Asphalt Maintenance Solutions at $173,397.20 for Sovereign, York, Edison, Furlong and Yocum roads, the streets tonight's agenda groups as Buckingham Preserve, plus an alternate bid for Crusher Road.

Tonight's agenda asks for two payments "once all paperwork is received and approved": $178,854.06 to AMS from the General Fund for Buckingham Preserve, with the money moved over from the Capital account, and $64,187.82 under Liquid Fuels for Crusher Road. Each is the bid price ($173,397.20 and $61,915.20) plus a column the agenda labels "escalation" ($5,556.86 and $2,272.62) without saying what it covers. Liquid Fuels is the PennDOT program that sends state money to municipalities to build and repair public roads, with each town's share based on its population and road miles, according to PennDOT.

The two bid prices on tonight's agenda add up to $235,312.40. The January minutes record the base bid plus the Crusher Road alternate at $234,518.00, a $794.40 difference neither document explains.

The board also would authorize Chairman Nelson Ott Jr. to sign the certificate of substantial completion. At the Aug. 20 meeting, township engineer Pamela Stevens told the board she was not recommending any payment until the punch list was done, "especially the overspray on the Belgian Block in Buckingham Preserve," while Crusher Road had been addressed and its repairs made satisfactory. Buckingham Preserve residents had complained at the same meeting that the new surface was delaminating down to the original asphalt and that the contractor had patched only one section of Furlong Road; Ott replied, citing an inspector, that "you are not going to get it better than it is right now." In July, Ott had called the project done, and a Buckingham Preserve resident, Dan Doyle, said that if the material kept performing that way, "this was a waste of money for the Township"; the same meeting appointed Doyle to the township's municipal authority. The Sept. 17 minutes, which would show what happened next, are not posted.

The January minutes also show the township had budgeted $316,508.50 for the base bid plus the Crusher Road alternate, so tonight's total comes in about $73,000 under that figure.

2027 budget

Item 5 asks the board to authorize advertising the 2027 budget for adoption at the Nov. 19 meeting. The agenda gives no figures and attaches no draft. At the August meeting Ott said the township had raised taxes "one time in 18 years," according to the minutes.

Cash on hand and the Schwab move

The treasurer's report as of Sept. 30 lists a General Fund balance of $2,515,790.07, a Capital Reserve of $312,196.58 and a State Fund of $336,517.43. The township also holds $1,158,921.21 in a Schwab money market for the General Fund, $1,262,276.59 in a Schwab money market for Capital, and $1,000,000 in Schwab CDs, and owes $226,944.37 on a $515,000 Truist Bank loan.

Item 8 would rescind two Sept. 17 motions to move $311,000 from Capital Reserve and $1,500,000 from the General Fund out of Tompkins Bank & Trust and into Schwab CDs. In their place, it would ratify a transfer of $1,500,000 from the General Fund at Tompkins to Schwab for a U.S. Treasury bill, completed Oct. 13 at a 4.45% yield and maturing Sept. 30, 2027. The Sept. 17 minutes are not yet posted on eCode360, so the agenda is the only public description of the September motions. In August, Ott said the township had saved close to $6 million, was earning about 4% on most of it and had received around $200,000 in interest since 2025.

Also on the agenda

• A $2,277 paving agreement with Bradley and Rachel Auckland of 1096 Geigertown Road for a permanent easement to repair the Geigertown Road guardrail outside the township's right-of-way. In August the board authorized $10,000 in emergency repairs there after Ott described a tilting guardrail and a road giving way over an old aqueduct, per the minutes. The homepage lists Geigertown Road closed Oct. 12 through 14 between Mullen Hollow and Kratz roads.
• Resolution 2026-21, a policy to reimburse the medical deductible of the township's health insurance plan and the Medicare deductible; the agenda gives no cost.
• "Discuss Fire Company," with no further detail. In July and August, township manager Deborah Olivieri told the board she had not processed the fire company's bills over questions about what was submitted.
• The Body subdivision, listed with engineer Brian Boyer; a presentation from Robert Bragner of the Hay Creek Watershed Association; HVAC units for the boardroom; and $114,107.52 in General Fund bills from Sept. 12 through Oct. 9.

Upcoming: Planning Commission Nov. 4 at 6 p.m.; Union Township Municipal Authority Nov. 12 at 6:30 p.m.; supervisors Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. Union Township is part of the Daniel Boone Area School District, whose roof grant we covered; our guide explains how to find any Berks municipality's meeting schedule.

How to attend

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Township Building, 1445 E. Main St., Douglassville. Under the public comment policy printed on the agenda (Resolution 2024-13), residents may speak on agenda items at the start and on anything else at the end, three minutes per person, after giving their name and address to the township secretary.