Durham Township Roadmaster Peter Cox told the township supervisors at their February meeting he would like to embark on a 10-year program to upgrade the roads in the township. The supervisors agreed to his plan.
He mentioned the plan after discussing ongoing work on Dogwood Lane and Stouts Valley Road, both badly damaged by heavy rains in August.
Cox said he wanted to upgrade a couple roads each year and said he would begin with Old Furnace Road, where the township building is situated, and Stouts Valley Road, which he said is heavily traveled.
Old Furnace, he said, had not been repaired since 2006 and he recommended using the same process that was applied to a portion of Kintner Road last year. He is also planning on repaving Stouts Valley Road from Red Bridge Road to the township line.
Cox also received permission from the supervisors to order a zero-turn lawn mower from Pipersville Garden Center at a cost of about $1,000.
After several rounds of discussion at recent meetings about the banning of hunting on public parkland, Durham Township supervisors have decided to sidestep the question and simply post signs warning hikers that hunters may be in the area.
Previously the supervisors had asked the township solicitor to draw up a resolution to prohibit hunting on the 39-acre portion of open space property the township shares with Bucks County. The county owns the remainder of the 90-acre tract and hunting is not permitted there.
Township Roadmaster Peter Cox had brought the matter to the supervisors’ attention several months ago because he said he feared “an incident” because hikers were not aware hunters used the property as well.
But at the January meeting, Anthony Wells, a member of the township planning commission and a hunter, said he thought the plan was unfair to hunters.
He went back to the planning commission and the members jointly recommended the supervisors not adopt an anti-hunting ordinance but simply post warning signs at the entrances to the property which lies off Stouts Valley Road.
