A $1.1 million surplus from 2025 could help Hempfield get ready for winters to come.
Public works director Austin Erhard is hoping to order a half a million dollars worth of road salt with part of the leftover money. That 6,000 tons would fully stock Hempfield’s salt storage facilities, he said.
The current stock is depleted after harsh winters this year and last year, said township manager Aaron Siko. While Hempfield has enough to get through to warmer days, “we will not have the supply that we would normally carry into a new year,” he said.
Hempfield has about 1,000 tons of salt remaining in addition to an anticipated delivery of 600 tons.
A proposed plan for the $1.1 million surplus was presented to supervisors Wednesday that showed road salt eating up about half of that figure. The rest would be earmarked for extrication tools for the fire department, projects at a fire station, bridge inspections and a contribution to an investment fund.
Bridge inspections
Part of the surplus is proposed to be dedicated to inspecting bridges that are shorter than 20 feet long. Erhard said those spans were last inspected in 2019.
“They’re more than due,” he said.
Bridges of that size are not part of the National Bridge Inspection Standards that require checks at least every 24 months. A proposal from Gibson-Thomas Engineering would inspect 38 of those spans this year for $69,000.
A handful more were replaced in the past five years and aren’t in need of inspection, Erhard said.
Once that analysis is complete, officials will know which bridges need routine checks and which ones can be looked at less frequently, Siko said.
“It’s vital to our capital improvement plan,” he said. “It’s vital to make sure that we’re ensuring safety across the community.”
Fire department upgrades
Upgraded tools for firefighters to use when they need to free someone trapped in a vehicle are earmarked at $271,200. Fire Chief Anthony Kovacic said the tools will replace obsolete systems, some 50 years old, on three rescue trucks that run for Adamsburg, Fort Allen and North Hempfield.
“This equipment is modernizing that fleet,” Siko said.
The surplus proposal also includes $138,600 for a backup generator and $22,000 for an epoxy floor project, both at Station 500, the headquarters in the township municipal complex. Both projects started in 2025 but have yet to be finished.
Finally, the surplus proposal calls for the remaining $116,000 to be moved to the capital reserve investment fund, Siko said.
