Eldred Township is still looking for someone to replace the roof on the municipal building.

After advertising for bids twice, the township did not get any bids before the deadline, said Ann Velopolcek, the township secretary, on Wednesday. One proposal did come in after the deadline, but it was too high. The proposal was for $225,000, but it is $100,000 more than the township anticipated.

Michael Gaul, the township solicitor, said that since the township has advertised for bids twice, the law permits them to solicit bids from prospective companies. The requirement is that once a company is selected, then the name of the company and the amount have to be announced at a supervisors meeting.

“At this point, the authorization would be for someone to go and talk to contractors to try to get some kind of workable bid,” Gaul said. “When you use this method, they have to bid on the same terms and conditions that advertisement, so nothing is changing.”

The area that needs to be replaced is a little more than 3,000 square feet, Velopolcek said. It is a regular roof that covers the township’s offices and the post office. The project does not include the Public Works Department garage, because it has a newer roof.

If a roofing company would like more information, then it should contact the township office at 610-381-4252.

In other township business, Jonathan Gula, the supervisor for the Public Works Department, said

“This year was a great year for salt usage. We were on the books for 600 tons. We are normally obligated to take 60% of that,” Gula said. “The rock salt company waived the storage fees and minimums this year. So we only took 300 ton of salt this year, which is about $20,000 under budget for snow removal.”

Gula also said that because it was a light winter, they were able to use less fuel, incur less overtime, and have less wear and tear on the trucks overall.

“That’s a good thing for us,” he said.

For next year, Gula said he plans to cut the rock salt request to 450 tons, which also lowers the amount they would be required to take. Municipalities are required to take 60% of the amount they request from the state, he said.

“Hopefully we can continue to improve our brine setup and try to use less salt, because it’s not getting any cheaper,” Gula said and added that the price of rock salt will increase to more than $80 per ton next year.

Gula also requested creating a temporary crew leader position.

He explained that this person would fill in for him if he is off for vacation, illness or other reason. He would give the crew member the township cellphone, so that if there was a need, such as a storm with downed trees. The township could contact that person to direct the work to make sure the needs of the township are met during both the work day and after hours.

Hoffman said, “And this allows you the latitude to appoint whoever you deem appropriate at the time.”

Gula said yes. “If I’m not here, I don’t know what’s needed, so it’s just easier for somebody in house to take care of the problem.”

The supervisors approved adopting the temporary crew leader position. Hoffman said the rate for the position is $35 per day.

Gula said crews will begin cleaning intersections and sweeping roads next week.

Items for sale on Municibid include three snow plows and one jumping jack compactor.