UNION TOWNSHIP Supervisors agree to lay off three road workers

The road workers are expected to be rehired in January.
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- By a 2-1 vote, Union Township supervisors agreed to lay off three of four road workers for the remainder of December.
Supervisors Steve Galizia and Pat Angiolelli voted for the layoff Thursday, while Supervisor Kevin Guinaugh was opposed.
Guinaugh, who formerly was township roadmaster, has said the township should raise taxes instead of laying off workers.
The township has not raised taxes for 15 years. This year, the township eliminated three road workers and one office clerk.
Galizia said members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union met with him Thursday and agreed to the layoff. In exchange, he said, starting Jan. 5, the workers will be called back and will work for the remainder of the year with no layoffs.
He said this will be accomplished by having a road worker at the municipal building or on the road 24 hours per day. If there are only a few slippery areas reported in the township, the worker can go out immediately and treat them instead of calling a full crew out. Formerly, two workers worked the winter while two others were laid off and worked on call for snowplowing from Thanksgiving until April, Galizia said.
Dropping off trees
Supervisors also announced that residents may drop off Christmas trees after the holidays near the pond at Scotland Meadows Park, where they will be chipped.
Supervisors also adopted a new fee and subdivision schedule which will be part of the new zoning ordinance. It is available for inspection at the municipal building.
They also accepted bids for township projects which they unsure had officially been accepted in the past. These included a parking lot paving project at Scotland Meadows Park awarded to Butch & amp; McCree, New Castle, for $35,645 and a $28,034 bid from J.D. Hannon, New Castle, for a storm sewer project on West Washington Street. Galizia said both were the low bidders. The other bids were not available Thursday night.
Former supervisor Clair Damon said Thursday's meeting should not have been held because it was not properly advertised. The meeting had been advertised in a local newspaper but not in the legal section, he said.
Damon also asked why a $30,000 renovation project in which furniture and computers were purchased for the township building was never advertised for bids. Guinaugh asked why the purchases had never been approved in a public meeting.
And former township employee Annie Richards asked why the township is spending money on a renovation project when it is laying off workers.