Ross Twp. advances project to help firefighters with water access

Ross Township’s board of supervisors is moving forward on a project to install standpipes throughout the area to help firefighters with water access.

“They’re going to be put in some of the ponds that are located in the township,” Supervisor David Shay said at Monday night’s meeting.

“There’s one along Weir Lake Road, one along Meixell Valley Road, one is on Anchorage Road and the other one is along Kunkletown Road.”

Shay said that he had been communicating with local property owners about the matter, and the responses he received were positive.

Solicitor Tim McManus suggested that the supervisors acquire written permission from those property owners to cover the township for liability issues, and establish that the township will own the standpipes.

The pipes will provide more consistent and reliable access to water sources in order to fill tankers.

“What that will do is it will make it easier for the fire department, in case they would need to pull water from these ponds, so they could just pull up to the standpipe, screw on their hose, and pull out of the pond. In the wintertime, they wouldn’t have to worry about the ice,” Shay said.

According to Shay, the township was more than happy to look into the standpipes to make the firefighters’ jobs a bit easier.

“The fire chief thought it would be a great idea, and I wanted to see if we could accommodate him,” he said.

Road foreman Ethan Brewer and his crew will likely install the standpipes in cooperation with the fire department once permission is obtained.

In other business

The supervisors discussed a possible donation of a relatively secluded plot of land on Dogwood Lane from a resident, with both Chairman Howard Beers Jr. and Shay leaning toward rejecting the offer.

Beers and Shay, after evaluating a map of the 2-acre property, agreed the land held little appeal for the township.

“I don’t know what the benefit would be. We really can’t do anything with it,” Shay said.

Though a final decision was tabled until the May supervisors’ meeting, Beers said that he can’t imagine that the supervisors will take the land.

“There’s a terrible slope, and there’s no parking,” Beers said. “People can’t even walk on it. It’s a steep hill on a sharp turn.”