Rail unloading facility planned near Monroeton

June 03--TOWANDA TOWNSHIP -- At their meeting on Monday, the Towanda Township supervisors discussed plans for the construction of a facility for the unloading of rail cars in the township and passed an ordinance that will help the township pay for the demolition, if needed, of fire-damaged buildings in the township.

Joe Zadrusky, who used to own the rail line that runs between Towanda Borough and Monroeton, said he was concerned about the effect of the township's planned flood plain ordinance on the plans to develop a facility for the unloading of rail cars on a 33-acre property he owns in the township.

He said there is state funding in place to develop the facility, which he said has been in the planning stages since 2010.

The planned flood plain ordinance would be more restrictive than the current flood plain ordinance as far as its regulations on construction in 100-year flood zones, which will make flood insurance premiums in the township lower than they would be otherwise, township Solicitor Jonathan Foster Sr. said. Zadrusky expressed hope that the rail facility, which would be built on a property that is in a 100-year flood zone, could be "grandfathered" under the new ordinance, which would make it only subject to the building requirements of the current ordinance.

Zadrusky said his property is in a flood way, but said that flood waters don't pond on the property, which is bordered by the Towanda Printing Co.'s printing facility property and the Cole Cemetery property.

The facility would be located along the Towanda-Monroeton rail line, which is operated by the Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad, Zadrusky said.

There would be a small office on the property, which is located behind the Towanda Printing Co. property, as well as weighing scales, Zadrusky said. The machinery at the rail facility could be moved if workers knew there was a flood on the way, he said. Monroeton's planned dike will not affect the property, he said.

Zadrusky said he was interested in undertaking a project on a neighboring property to redirect the channel of the Towanda Creek away from his property. However, Zadrusky would need to obtain permission for the stream rechanneling from the Bradford County Conservation District, Foster said.

Foster said he had plans to talk to a representative from FEMA today, and said he would use the opportunity to ask "what (construction) is allowed (on the Zadrusky property) and what is not allowed, and if it's allowed, what you have to do to get it approved."

Ordinance

The ordinance that was passed on Monday will help protect the township from the safety hazard of fire-damaged homes left standing over the long term in the township, Foster said.

Under the ordinance, if there were a substantial insurance claim filed after a house fire, the homeowner's insurance company would be required to place up to $2,000 of every $15,000 of the insurance payout into an escrow account controlled by the township, Foster said.

The township would use the money in the escrow account to demolish the house if the homeowner failed to repair the building and just walked away from the property, he said.

However, if the homeowner proceeded with the repair of the building, the money that had been deposited in the account would be released to help pay for the repairs, he said.

Towanda employee Ray Green Jr. reported that all townships have been directed by the state Department of Transportation to start keeping an inventory of all road signs on township roads, such as speed-limit signs and street-name signs, as part of a new program for "sign assessment and management." Township-owned signs on state routes would also be included in the inventory.

Because the requirement is so extensive, it is "not very popular with townships," Green said.

There is a lot of information that needs to be included for each sign, such as who put it up, who owns it, its GPS coordinates, who made the sign, and what direction it is facing, Green said.

The township will also have to write a plan this month for assessing and managing the signs, which will indicate that the signs will be replaced as needed, he said.

Commercial road signs will not be part of the inventory, Green said.

One township official suggested finding out if any high school students wanted to help out with the inventory for their senior project.

James Loewenstein can be reached at [email protected] or (570) 265-1633.

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