Kennett Township snowplows will be clearing the way on Kaolin and Creek roads and Old Kennett Pike this winter, thanks to an agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
The township supervisors approved a resolution Wednesday that would allow for a “Supplemental Winter Maintenance Services Agreement” permitting Kennett’s public works department to clear snow and ice from those three state-owned roads and compensating them an additional $25,000-plus.
PennDOT paid Kennett’s road crews $7,552.50 over the 2023-2024 winter season to clear Burnt Mill and Sprint Mill roads in the first of a five-year agreement. The compensation with the three additional state roads will increase to $33,387.15 this winter, and increase 2 percent every year through the 2027-2028 season, according to township Public Works Director Theodore D. Otteni.
“We’re already on these roads plowing our township roads,” Otteni said. “Public works can be much more responsive. We think it’s a win-win for the township.”
In his report to the supervisors, Otteni said police often contact the public works crews to clear the roads when accidents or emergencies happen.
“Additionally, the township public works crew tends to be more responsive during snow/ice events which will provide enhanced services to township residents by having the roads cleared in a timelier manner,” Otteni wrote. “With the increased staffing brought on to complete more projects throughout the year, the public works team can handle the additional responsibility.”
Other business:
• The supervisors met in executive session on Aug. 28 to discuss the acquisition of real property, according to township solicitor Dave Sander.
• The supervisors also appointed GKO Architects to do a feasibility study of the current township building, which also houses the police department. Otteni said the first step in determining any expansion is the study, which will cost $37,500. Fourteen proposals were submitted, and ultimately GKO was selected.
“The township building was built 20 years ago and certainly has filled the needs of the staff,” he said. “But as the staff has grown and the police department has grown, we’re kind of busting out of our seam.”
“We checked with several of their references, and three of the references … were Warrington Township, Pocopson Township, and Upper Dublin Township,” Otteni said. “One of the things we were looking for was a firm that had worked with local municipalities, specifically administration- and police-related facilities.”
About Monica Fragale
Monica Thompson Fragale is a freelance reporter who spent her life dreaming of being in the newspaper business. That dream came true after college when she started working at The Kennett Paper and, years later The Reporter newspaper in Lansdale and other dailies. She turned to non-profit work after her first daughter was born and spent the next 13 years in that field. But while you can take the girl out of journalism, you can’t take journalism out of the girl. Offers to freelance sparked the writing bug again started her fingers happily tapping away on the keyboard. Monica lives with her husband and two children in Kennett Square.
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