Refinancing a $400,000 loan taken out in 2006 will save Schuylkill Township about $100,000.

Township supervisors made the announcement during a meeting Tuesday. The original loan rate was for 4.5 percent and the monies were used for roadwork and paving on Valley Road. Supervisor Christine Verdier shopped around for several months before getting a 3.35 percent interest rate from Mauch Chunk Trust, Hometown, for 10 years.The supervisors have also found a way to get lines painted on township roads at no cost. Mid-Atlantic Paving, a subcontractor for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, headquartered in the Baltimore area, needed a place to store paint for area work. Otherwise, they'd have to haul paint as needed from Baltimore.A worker for the company talked first with Supervisor Chuck Fayash, who relayed the information to the other supervisors. They decided to allow Mid-Atlantic to set up a paint storage area in the parking lot outside the township building. In exchange, the company has agreed to repaint lines on township roads."We're glad to do it," Fayash said after the meeting. "It will save them money and save us money."Chairman Charles Hosler, who is also roadmaster for the township, said that paving work will soon begin in six locations, including portions of Valley Street, Sunny Drive, and the streets near the Mary D Fire Company.The supervisors awarded a $18,534 bid to Folk Paving, the lone bidder, to supply labor and equipment for the work. The township will purchase the needed asphalt material separately, with an estimated cost of $17,405.In other business:• The township has received a $27,000 USDA grant to conduct a feasibility study on needed sewer system repairs in the Reevesdale area.• Mary Van Pelt of Brockton objected to the five-minute limit per person for public comment, which the supervisors established during their August meeting. She also asked for an update on the status of developing a website for the township. The supervisors told her they are still researching it.• John Zubris of Brockton asked the supervisors if they were working on developing a noise ordinance. Zubris said that he thought the township's existing nuisance ordinance covered the issue of noise. Verdier told him that the supervisors are looking into things to see if the existing nuisance ordinance needs to be changed to more effectively address the noise issue.• The supervisors approved spending $9,066 to purchase digital police radios, which include one mobile and one portable. The purchase is necessary due to Schuylkill County's change in police radios from analog to digital.