By AMANDA CALDWELL
Bradford Era Reporter

Steve Mascho brought a couple of issues to light during a brief Bradford Township Supervisors meeting on Monday.

Mascho, chairman of the board, said that he was surprised to find from a third party that a township employee had been hired to fill the space of road foreman.

Mascho said he was aware that it was approved to advertise for the position of road foreman after the resignation of Steve Kloss at the Feb. 11 regular supervisors meeting, but was not aware of the interview or hiring process of the person chosen by the other two supervisors for the position.

Mascho said he checked with the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors and they verified that an employee hired without all three supervisors being notified of the interview and hiring process is in violation of compliance with the Sunshine Law and that person is not officially a township employee.

“The hiring of this employee was not discussed at a public meeting, work session or executive session, so at this time we have an unauthorized employee,” Mascho said. “The majority wins in a vote among the three supervisors, but decisions cannot be made without all three votes as it was in this case.”

Mascho expressed his opinion that the three supervisors need to work together as a team in the future on all decisions.

Meanwhile, Mascho pointed out that according to his findings the township could have saved money on its recent purchases of a 2014 garbage packer for $186,251, a UTV side-by-side off-road vehicle for $18,262 and a Ford F-550 for $76,169 for use by the road department.

Mascho said he found equipment with comparable specifications to what was purchased for lower prices. A UTV side-by-side for $15,429.79 through a Jamestown, N.Y., John Deere dealer which would have saved approximately $2,378.

Mascho found a garbage packer for $159,336.13 through A&H Equipment Co., which would have saved approximately $26,150. Mascho noted this company would have accepted the old garbage truck as a trade-in towards the purchase.

Foster Township recently purchased a similar pick-up truck for around $55,000, according to Mascho.

Mascho estimated that a total of around $50,157 could have possibly been saved if the equipment were purchased differently.

“That is a lot of money,” Mascho said. “We didn’t take enough time to look at this decision.”

Mascho voted against the purchase of all three pieces of equipment because he felt that it was unnecessary to purchase the three pieces of equipment for the arranged prices. He was outvoted by the other two supervisors at the Feb. 11 regular supervisors meeting.

In other news, an update on the sewer project was given by township engineer Al Vanderpoel, who reported that the project is making good progress and is about 50 percent completed on Minard Run Road, Browntown Road and Hedgehog Lane.

Vanderpoel estimated that an additional three to four months would be necessary for the completion of the project, which would cause it to end well before the Dec. 31 deadline.

Meanwhile, the supervisors decided that all township roads will be closed immediately to all heavy hauling trucking for a few months until the ground thaws out more because of the toll that the roads suffer during this thaw period.

A resolution was adopted approving of the sewage plan for development of a new dorm by the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.

A motion was passed to submit the application for the 2013 McKean County liquid fuel allocation to the county commissioners in the amount of $11,275. The funds will be used for road projects and materials.

The Quinn Law Firm was appointed as special legal counsel and it was approved to proceed with litigation as discussed in the executive session held Feb. 11.

The next supervisors meeting will be a work session slated for 6 p.m. April 22.