Dec 8, 2003 By Angie Santello 4 min read

FRANKLIN TWP. – Township residents will pay $7.75 a month for garbage collection, based on a new three-year contract the township supervisors signed with a McClellandtown company. The new deal with Onyx Waste Service will take effect Jan. 1 and places a six-bag limit per pick-up.

Onyx will be the township’s sole garbage service provider, a change from the past when as many as eight haulers operated in the township and charged higher prices than Onyx (anywhere from $9.50 to $14 per household per month), according to Supervisor George Bozek.

Bozek added that the supervisors obtained the lower rate through competitive bidding, and they put in an option to extend the contract with the company an additional two years.

Onyx will bill customers beginning Jan. 1 and will notify all residents about the mandatory garbage procedures and pick-up schedule before Jan. 1. Residents who prepaid for 2004 garbage services should contact their previous garbage companies for reimbursement before Jan. 1.

The supervisors said that anyone with questions regarding the mandatory garbage service should call them at the municipal building at 724-677-2172.

The bid with Onyx came about after the township rejected bids for garbage service in November due to non-compliance with the bid conditions. The bid was re-advertised, and Onyx was the successful bidder at the meeting Thursday.

Also during the meeting, the supervisors approved a $420,000 budget for 2004 that includes no tax increase.

Bozek attributed good fiscal management to the township being able to keep the same tax rate of .896 mills while balancing rising insurance costs for two fire companies in the township, maintaining roads and continuing to further advance sewer projects.

In addition, Bozek said, the supervisors were able to carry over about $80,000 from this year for the 2004 budget. The township needs that carryover money to stay financially afloat for the first few months of 2004, Bozek said, because although the fiscal year begins Dec. 31, the township will not receive revenue from taxes and the state liquid fuels fund, which is also used for equipment purchases and road maintenance, until April 1.

With the current millage rate, residents will pay $8.69 for every $10,000 in assessed property value. Bozek said he has seen a 2-to-5-percent rise in property value, and the township’s total assessed property value is now more than $75 million.

“We have 2,630 residents living in the township,” said Bozek. “The number has only varied by 20 people over the last 20 years. When I started this job in 1988, we had 2,650 residents.”

Bozek attributed the decrease to the lack of large families, which seems to reflect a current trend.

Also included in the budget is $2,500 in funding dispersed among the Smock Historical Society, the Curfew Grange, the community center in Smock, the Flatwoods pool and the Bitner and Smock parks.

In addition, $20,000 will go toward fire protection services, including the Smock and Flatwoods volunteer fire companies.

Bozek said the largest expenditure in the budget, $85,000, is for maintenance of approximately 30 miles of township roads, followed by construction, $75,000.

Money under the construction category also goes toward road maintenance, in particular road resurfacing.

A total of $150,000 and an $83,000 allocation from the liquid fuels fund will go toward maintaining roads, Bozek said.

This year, the township spent $350,000 maintaining roads, with $80,000 of that money reimbursed to the township from Atlas American of McClellandtown for damages their crews did to the roads when they were drilling for natural gas.

The township received another $170,000 through the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority.

Although the supervisors do not plan to spend quite as much on road maintenance next year or receive as many grants and reimbursements as they did in 2003, they do plan to concentrate on the Bitner and Juniata sewer program. Franklin and Dunbar townships will partner on this project.

Franklin Township has been busy with sewer projects.

Work on sewers in the Smock area is 95 percent complete, and the system is in full operation, with only minor private property restoration remaining.

“The supervisors thank all members of the community for their patience and cooperation throughout this project,” said Bozek.

The supervisors also conducted the following business Thursday:

– Announced the township was awarded a $9,000 grant through the Fayette County Conservation District for improvements to Hawk Road. To improve conditions on the road, which serves about four properties, the supervisors plan to lay sub-base and install drainage so sediment from the road will not erode into a nearby stream.

– Awarded the Flatwoods and Smock volunteer fire companies $3,000 each.