Lower Towamensing Township supervisors selected an excavating company Tuesday night to clean up the improperly buried remains of charred house owned by Scott Smith.

The house, which stood at 2385 Little Gap Road in Palmerton, burned down in December 2013. Instead of the debris being taken away to a landfill, the township said it was improperly buried on the property and filed suit against the owner in December 2015 in Carbon County.In the suit, the township said Smith was in violation of the Solid Waste Management Act and failed to provide documentation that the materials were removed. These materials included items such as timbers, masonry, a fuel tank, piping, wires and other charred remains in the house.The township asked the court to either order Smith to excavate the property and dispose of the materials properly or allow the township to excavate and dispose of the materials and pay for the work with money held in a fire escrow account. According to a township ordinance, an insurance company is required to pay a portion of the insurance proceeds to the township to cover the cost of cleaning up a property if the owner fails to act.The American Security Insurance Co. released $17,423.71 to the township for the fire escrow. The lawsuit said Smith's actions had created a public nuisance, and neighbors had complained to the township about the waste left on the property. Some of which remained visible, poking through the ground.Following the judge's decision, the township took bids for the cleanup project. Three bids were received. Magnum Excavating in Palmerton bid $9,865, while Costenbader Excavating, also in Palmerton, bid $8,750. The lowest bid came in from Charles Dunbar Excavating in Palmerton at $5,000."We don't have to award it to the lowest bidder, but I think in all fairness it should go to the lowest bidder," said Ronald Walbert, chairman of the supervisors.Supervisors Brent Green and Jesse Mendez agreed. The project was awarded to Charles Dunbar Excavating."He can start as soon as possible," Walbert said.As part of the contract, Dunbar will remove the burned material buried under the ground, load it into dumpsters and haul it to a landfill. The concrete foundation will get reburied, covered with dirt and grass planted over the site. Cleanup should take anywhere from a day or two to a week, the supervisors said.Remaining funds in the fire escrow will go toward court costs, legal fees and other related expenses. Any remaining amount will be released to Smith.