May 7, 2002 By Melissa Glisan 2 min read

WHARTON TWP. – Small communities too remote for the terror and destruction of the Sept. 11 attacks are starting to feel the repercussions as insurance rates climb higher. At Monday’s supervisors meeting, the board gratefully noted township police officers’ effort in trying to help them find insurance policies that weren’t so dramatically increased over last year’s rates. “This is just another payback for the Sept. 11 events. The rates are up because of all the payouts that were made at that time,” said supervisor Jack Lewis.

Noting that Blue Cross rates increased by 14 percent, supervisors agreed that the companies had them at a loss. “They just keep going up and up, and up and we don’t have a lot of choices on the matter,” said supervisor Jim Means.

In other business, supervisors:

– Voted to hire two part-time student employees for the summer months to assist at the township park. The board also agreed to hire a temporary full-time senior employee to supervise the younger workers on their maintenance duties at the park. Because of potential issues regarding unemployment, the board asked solicitor Denise Smalley to review the pertinent laws before considering applications for the job.

– Agreed to solicit quotes for ashes for winter road maintenance. Because the sole bidder this year had to back out when the product was determined to not meet state specifications for road use, supervisors began looking for alternate suppliers. Now that a few potential sellers have been located, the board agreed to get quotes rather than re-bid the material need.

– Entered into a road maintenance agreement with Sisler Lumber Company for Smith School Road. Supervisors noted that the company has worked well with the township in the past and that the trucks would only be using the road for a few weeks.

– Went into an executive session to discuss potential legal action regarding Main Trail/Iroquois Loop in Half King Colony.