Chestnuthill residents will not see a tax increase for 2019. The millage rate will hold steady at 8.7 mills for the second year.

“I want to thank the Dave and the staff for the hard work that went into making this budget work without having to raise taxes,” said Vice Chairman Chris Eckert.

“That is quite an accomplishment in this era where everything is going up,” added supervisor Harry Miller.

The 8.7 mills is split with 7.24 mills going to township services and roads. 1.46 mills is dedicated to the West End Volunteer Fire Company.

According to a summary prepared by township manager David Albright, the millage rate breaks down as follows: for every $25,000 of assessed value, $181 will go to the township and $31.25 will go to the West End Volunteer Fire Company.

The total budget of $6,459,384 is slightly less than 2018’s budget mainly because of a lower expected number of grants that the township would administer. The township is hoping to receive about $500,000 in grants for 2019. Historically Chestnuthill will postpone projects if grant funding is not realized.

The grants which are being applied for will be used for emergency services, parks, recycling programs and historical resources.

The new dog park to be located at the West End Regional Park will begin construction immediately. The contract was approved for RGC Development Corp. of Bath in the amount of $181,629. The majority of the cost of the park will be covered by a grant received earlier this year. West End Parks and Open Spaces will be paying a portion of the costs.

RGC’s quote was about $60,000 under the expected, budgeted cost. There were 11 bids, with a high bid of $388,000.

The dog park will have three sections, which will be designated by the size of the dog.

Bill dispute

The township is disputing a bill from Hanson Aggregates for paving projects done during 2018. The final bill for work done was just under a half-million dollars. The invoice included $20,924 for a price adjustment for an increase in material costs.

Chestnuthill is disputing the amount because the contract required Hanson to notify the township of any material cost increases before proceeding with work. The reason the township had the clause included in the contract was to allow the township to determine whether to proceed with the work, or to eliminate some paving to keep the costs down.

According to Albright, Hanson did not notify the township before proceeding with the work. The supervisors did approve the Hanson invoice for the undisputed amount of $473,388.

The Lake Mineola Road project is complete and the invoice for Northeast Contractors was approved.

Rite Aid

Rite Aid Corporation was granted approval under a conditional use request to increase the number of parking spaces at its proposed new site at the corner of Route 115 and Marion Lane. The approval permits Rite Aid to increase the number of parking spaces from 36 to 43.

The Rite Aid will be moved to the site of John’s Automart due to the construction of the two roundabouts being built by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation along Routes 115 and 209.