Residents Pack Cecil Meeting to Talk Road Improvements

Cecil resident Justin Birch told supervisors that he's driven roads in Iraq that were in better condition than those in his hometown.

He was one of several residents who turned up at the board's meeting Monday to implore it to make road improvements a bigger part of the 2012 budget.

But board Chairman Mike Debbis was clear to those in attendance: "Don't pretend we're not concerned about roads—we are."

Debbis explained what the board has paid in road improvements this year: About $740,000 so far, with about $250,000 left to go.

And he added that 2012's road-maintenance program will include about $300,000 from the township's liquid fuels account, as well as money from any surplus remaining at the end of the year.

"We'll end up as we have (been)—we'll have $400,000 to $500,000 for roads," he said.

That's when Birch and others brough up a laundry list of "country" roads such as Coleman and Angerer, saying they needed heavy work and asking what that allotment would do for those throughways and others.

That's when resident Elizabeth Cowden, who recently won her bid for Cecil Township supervisor, spoke up.

"I'm certain all of you know $350,000 will do nothing," she told the board, adding that she had circulated a flier around town regarding the subject of road improvements.

She said to rehabilitate all of the township's roads would take a 15-year program that would cost about $2 million a year.

But Debbis scoffed at the suggestion.

"Sure, I wish we had it. Are you kidding?" he asked her. "I could cut the whole staff and still (not afford it)."

To that, Cowden responded: "These are our tax dollars" and encouraged others in attendance to attend the last budget meeting this week to ask supervisors to make such improvements a first thought, not an afterthought.

But Supervisor Andy Schrader wanted to know from Cowden: Where would she cut the budget to allow for that additional spending?

But Cowden said she was unsure because when she attended budget meetings she couldn't hear properly because "you have your backs turned." She also said questions she had during those meetings went unanswered.

Cecil Township is expected to tentatively approve its 2012 spending plan Thursday after the supervisors meet for their last budget meeting.

Final adoption is expected for the budget, that includes no tax increase, at 9 a.m. Dec. 29 in the municipal building.