Eldred Township supervisor vice chairman Mary Anne Clausen said at the Wednesday night supervisors' meeting that about 10 years ago she was involved in trying to get a township road's speed limit lowered. Currently, any unmarked road in Pennsylvania is automatically set at 55 mph.

Lowering a speed limit can be done, but there must be an expensive traffic study done before it can be lowered.Recently Eldred Township submitted to Monroe County a proposal to lower speed limits on township roads. Their proposal is that any board of supervisors, after careful consideration, can lower unmarked roads from 55 to 40 mph, if it is warranted.This proposal has been approved by the county and will now be submitted to Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors for discussion and voted on at the next PSATS convention in April. If passed, it will be forwarded to the proper agency for a vote and adoption if approved. It would then affect the entire state.Subdivision quandaryKenneth Faust submitted a minor subdivision plan waiver request to the Eldred Township supervisors. Faust wants to divide a property into two lots, one 22 acres and the other 32 acres. He requested a planning waiver and nonbuilding lot declaration.However, DEP law states that he must have soil probes and perc tests to confirm that the soils will perc.Faust doesn't want to do them because of costs, saying he only wants to farm the land and thinks if in the future someone wants to purchase the property, they should have to pay for the tests.But to protect the township in the event a future owner would want to build a home and the property would be deemed unbuildable (because there wouldn't be a spot for a sewage system) the board said the current property owner should have the tests completed.Township solicitor Michael Kaspszyk said a future owner might want to build and the township doesn't want to create a nonbuildable lot.He said according to the state mandated 537 Plan, every time a property owner submits a plan for building or to make it into a subdivision, the owner has to either have a sewage module plan or have perk tests done for future property owners to know that the property is buildable.The supervisors voted 2-1 to pass the Kenneth Faust minor subdivision plan waiver request. Supervisor vice chairman Mary Anne Clausen abstained, saying she was not familiar enough with Plan 537 to make an informed decision.Other businessKeith Kuehner, the township roadmaster, reported the road crew is servicing the equipment, getting trucks ready for winter and filling in low shoulder areas.Repairs have been made to the bridge on Bollinger Road.Ellerslie Helm, township zoning officer, reported the township issued two permits and he did 10 site surveys.Sharon Solt, township supervisor and secretary, reported:• The township received its new bill for health insurance and was happy to say there was no increase.• The tree used for the Christmas tree lights and decorations is dead. She asked for and received permission to contact Glenn Beers of Old Homestead Tree Farm about purchasing a new tree in hopes of having it in time for a tree trimming and lighting event around Thanksgiving.• There is a Toys For Tots container in the foyer of the municipal building. She is asking for the township residents to bring in donations of new toys. She challenges the residents, saying for every toy that is donated, she will donate $10 to purchase new toys.• The trails behind the township building will be closed to the public for their safety from Nov. 22-Dec. 13 and Dec. 26-Jan. 10, due to hunting season.• There will be a Veterans Day ceremony at the municipal building at 11 a.m. on Tuesday.