The renovation of the new recreation center in Lower Towamensing Township is speeding up. The board of supervisors approved hiring Home Solutions Partners to take on the more difficult construction projects.

Volunteers did about 30 percent of the work, said Vice Chairman Ronald Walbert, but now "we just need to get it done.""Our goal is to make it a first-class quality center," Walbert said.The future recreation center on Fireline Road was once owned by the Knights of Columbus. It is about 2,500 square feet and will serve as a meeting place and for organizations and rental hall. The baseball field and pavilion are usable, but the inside needs heating, plumbing, insulation and drywall work done."We really need to get the concrete work done before it gets too cold," Walbert told the board.Brent Green, the chairman of the supervisors, said the framing and prework for the building will cost $2,295. The insulation alone will be $4,000."It's under the bidding threshold," he told the supervisors. For that reason, they were able to just take a vote of whether or not to approve the services.Walbert said he's hoping the remodeling project will be completed by June 2016.In other business, Walbert said the company that did the line painting throughout the township did a substandard job, at least initially. As a result, he told the company that the municipality wouldn't pay for substandard work. The 30 miles of roads that had been striped would have had to be redone within a year or two.The company agreed that the work was substandard, Walbert said, and agreed to restripe all of the roads."They were very receptive to my request," Walbert said.This time the work was done well and Walbert is confident that it will not need to be restriped again for at least four years.The township also announced its trick-or-treating schedule. Children will be permitted to go trick-or-treating from 6-8 p.m. on Oct. 28, which is the same day and time as Palmerton Borough.