Century Engineering presented a plan at the Kidder Township Board of Supervisors meeting last week to replace the open grate bridge on Route 534 near 903.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is planning to replace the bridge in 2017, Century Engineering's spokesman Tom Smith told the board."The bridge was constructed I believe in 1916 and is rated as structurally deficient," Smith said.Smith said that the plan is to start the prep work in the spring of 2017. The bulk of the deconstruction and reconstruction will take place during the summer months and will be complete prior to the beginning of the new school year.Traffic will be detoured onto Henning Road during the construction phase.Planning Commission Chairman Gene Getz suggested that PennDOT conduct a traffic study of Route 534 prior to finalizing its plans."You really need to take a look at the summer traffic on 534," said Getz. "With three races, camping and all of the other summer activities, that is a very busy road in the summer months."The board is also looking into adding a traffic signal at Route 903 and Lake Drive.Also addressed during the meeting was the impact of the Quality of Life ordinance."The police are doing a great job enforcing the ordinance, "Supervisor Larry Polansky said. "The proof is in the number of complaints we are receiving from people who have been cited."Township Manager Lisa Klem said that, while the ordinance is being enforced, residents are given a warning for the first offense and are not cited unless they fail to correct the problem.Klem also said the township will be undertaking renovations to the township building. The township received a $79,199 grant from Local Share Accounts, which are funded by the gambling industry in Pennsylvania.The grant money will be used for exterior upgrades and HVAC. In addition, the township will also undertake to expand on the police station, improve handicap access, improve security and add employee restrooms in the office and the police station.At the opening of the meeting, Chairman Bob Lengle took a few minutes to congratulate Fire Chief Ralph Lennon on being honored by Mauch Chunk Trust as a Hometown Hero."Anyone who knows Ralph knows how generous he his. He is a great guy and he really deserves the recognition. We are very proud of him and wanted to acknowledge this honor," Lengle said.A motion passed to pay the bills in the amount of $329,637. It was pointed out that $192,187 of that was money released to the township's emergency services.The township also adopted Ordinance No. 168 for Street Names and Building Numbers with the modification allowing for signs to be 6 by 12 inches or 6 by 14 inches rather than the original 6 by 18 inches. The numbers are still to be 4 inches in height.The board accepted the resignation of part-time police officer Robert J. Blisard.A replacement for Blisard is being sought.