Representatives from Verizon approached the Lower Towamensing Township supervisors Tuesday night for Conditional/Final Approval of plans for a cellphone tower north of Fireline Road.

The tower will be located on property owned by the Palmerton Area School District, said Brent Green, chairman of the supervisors. It will be in the area of the cross-country track.

The tower will be 235 feet tall and will be a lattice work structure, said Catherine Durso, an attorney for Verizon with the firm Fitzpatrick Lentz and Bubba. There will be a fence around the tower to enclose it from the public.

She said the access drive to the tower will be off the main road, but it will be mostly unused. Once every four to six weeks, a Verizon employee will go up there in a sport utility vehicle to inspect it.

Green said he anticipates that work on the tower will begin in late summer or early fall.

In other business, the supervisors discussed a report from township engineer Greg Haas that listed roads in need of work. Haas recommended that three roads get a seal coat. These streets and estimated costs include: Maple Drive between Fireline Road and Dairy for $32,000; Spruce Road between Hahns Dairy Road and Forest Drive for $31,600; and a section of Montage Drive, which is Summer Mountain Road, to the township line for $16,400.

Haas also recommended a leveling course and a wearing overlay on Wintergreen Road from the township line to Sunset Terrace and Sunnyrest Road from the township line to Cherryhill Road. The total cost for all of the projects could be upward of $239,000.

“At this point, I don’t mind bidding the seal coat, but I don’t know. We don’t have the money to do it,” Green said. “It’s either the seal coat or the paving.”

Each year, the township receives about $156,000 from the state from the Municipal Liquid Fuels Program. The money comes from a state tax on liquid fuels. These funds can be used for repairs to roads, but it isn’t enough to cover all of the projects. Green said he would prefer to do the paving versus seal coats, even if it means taking some money out of the general fund to pay for it.

Supervisor Jay Mullikin agreed, “I would much rather see some paving go down.”

Roadmaster Mike Anthony asked the supervisors if they would be considering any work on Golf Road from Fireline Road to the Palmerton Borough line. Green agreed that it needs work, but doesn’t see how it can be done this year.

“At this point, there’s just not enough money to go around,” he said.

The township is also looking to replace a stormwater pipe beneath Stoney Ridge Road that allows water to cross below the roadway. The pipe has separated, Green said.

A 30-foot section from one side of the road to the other side will have to be cut to access the broken pipe. The work will be done in house, but the road will have to be closed while it is fixed.

A specific date for the work will be announced later. The cost for the replacement is $301.50.