Eldred Township has received $271,000 to fix a bridge and road that are in need of repairs.

Chairwoman Mary Anne Clausen made the announcement to residents last week that the township had been awarded a Local Share Account grant to repair the bridge on Gower Lane."This is some really great news," Clausen said. "And I know some of you have complained about the road there as well. We will be repairing the road as part of the bridge repair. That should make everyone happy."Another area in town that has residents concerned is the old mill that is by the stone arch bridge in the center of town. The mill was damaged by fire years ago and is in danger of collapsing.Last year, former solicitor Mike Kaspszyk had been looking into having the building condemned so the township could demolish it. Instead, Kaspszyk was able to find the current owner of the building, which turned out to be an insurance company in Texas.The insurance company has paid to remove the asbestos from the building and is in the process of getting the proper permits needed to demolish the property."This could be a wonderful thing for our township," Clausen said. "I am just speaking for myself. But I could see us using the property as a little town square. People could fish there, get an ice cream from the pub and sit by the water and eat it."Clausen has approached the property owner about having the property deeded over to the township and she says that the owner was receptive to the idea.The property has more than $80,000 in tax liens against it from the county and the Pleasant Valley School District.Clausen has obtained assurances from both that if the land is given to the township the taxes will be forgiven."This property cannot be built on. It is in the flood plain," Clausen said. "There is a septic from another property located on it and an easement."Other businessThe supervisors also responded to a letter from the Kunkletown Rod and Gun Club regarding the easement that the township has on the walking trails bordering the gun club's land.The letter requests that the township terminate the easement to use the trails for safety reasons."We were granted that easement by the Wildlands Conservancy to be used as open spaces," Clausen said. "I don't believe that we can alter that use."The Agricultural Security Area advisory committee sent a recommendation to the supervisors recommending the approval of an Ag Security designation for property owned by F. Scott Smith, and also recommended that the supervisors deny the request made by the Kunkletown Rod and Gun Club since the property is not used for any agricultural purpose and therefore does not meet the criteria to be added to the Ag Security Area.The supervisors also agreed to send a letter to the Palmerton Borough Council in support of its efforts to make it clear that the heavy truck traffic related to the tri-axle dump trucks bringing waste in to Palmerton through Eldred Township has negatively affected the township and the roads.The supervisors and the residents all took the opportunity to thank roadmaster Keith Kuehner and his road crew for the excellent job they did to keep the township moving during the blizzard in March. The road crew, which consists of three employees, is in the process of becoming unionized.The supervisors appointed Clausen and solicitor Michael Gaul to negotiate on behalf of the township as part of the collective bargaining process. No date has been set for collective bargaining yet.