Walker Township Secretary Ann Ostergaard is advising residents to be aware of people who are stealing checks from residential mailboxes.

Ostergaard, who owns Heisler’s Dairy, said that a check she had mailed in the amount of $3,000 to a company showed up on her bank account as having been cashed electronically by a person in Texas. The name that the check was written to had been altered to the check casher’s name.

She reported the theft to local police and to the bank.

“Several fire companies in the area got hit, and the school district had the same thing happen,” Ostergaard said. “The banks confirmed the thefts are happening more and more.”

Mostly rural, residential mailboxes are being targeted. Such thefts appear to be on the rise nationally, as well as in the area.

Officials recommend mailing checks from the post office and not placing them in rural mailboxes for pickup.

In other business, the Kettle Road project is due to be restarted soon, according to Chad Felty, township road master.

“ARRO Engineering basically gave the go-ahead for this to be put out to bid,” Felty said.

Phase One of the three-phase project was completed two years ago. Last year, the township was not awarded the grant money for phase two. This year, the township was awarded just over $62,000 toward the cost of the project.

Phase two will see paving for part of Kettle Road that is currently in as a dirt road.

The board vote to advertise for bids for the project.

Also at the meeting, the supervisors voted to approve work to repair the salt shed on the municipal building grounds. The estimate for the project is $5,700.

New England Fire Company responded to nine calls during April, said Felty, who is a fire company member in addition to being township road master.