Sentinel photo by SIERRA BOLGER
Pictured are, from left, Supervisors Joe Fiore Jr., Bill Page and James Smith Sr.

LEWISTOWN — The Junction Fire House received good and bad news during the Granville Township meeting Monday morning.

Vice President Patrick Pauly of Junction Fire House received approval from the supervisors that the Junction could move forward with the purchase of a brush truck.

The funds are coming from an account that belongs to all of the firehouses in Granville Township known as the Fire Tax money collected by Granville Township to use for apparatus purchases or major repairs, or building replacement or repairs.

The truck they are replacing is known as a squad truck which is a small pickup type chassis with a utility body, and a skid-unit mounted on it. The skid-unit is a tank of water, a pump and a reel of hose.

The vehicle would need to be purchased in three separate components — the cab and chassis would be purchased from the Lake Dealerships in Lewistown, the utility body would be purchased from DK Hostetler in Reedsville and the skid unit which includes the pump and water tank will be built and shipped from Florida.

Pauly said he received quotes from all three companies, but the price is not guaranteed after a certain amount of time.

They asked for $125,000 as the total cost without lettering, and the emergency lights installed would be $122,279.87.

Time of delivery is currently unknown, shared Pauly.

As for the bad news, during a meeting held in July supervisors decided they would use their CDBG funding for the purchase of new fire safety equipment for the Junction Fire House.

But in order for them to qualify they have to meet the low income housing criteria.

To do that SEDA-COG mailed out census forms to homes in the area the Junction Fire House serves. Homes that would be benefited but the families inside must also meet the low to moderate income.

These homes were shuffled and picked by a computer system however during an update in September, Carol High of SEDA-COG shared that there was a delay in responses and that Granville Township residents who received a survey in the mail and have not responded may receive a personal visit from a SEDA-COG representative in the next few weeks.

Eventually they did get the 63 responses needed but High shared that it took longer than expected.

At Monday’s meeting High told supervisors that unfortunately they did not meet the low income amount.

“Last week SEDA-COG went through all of the surveys, spreadsheets and documentation and certified it was done properly and that we followed all of the guidelines but from those 63 responses, 40.7 percent were low to moderate income and 51 percent is what they need to qualify for CDBG funding,” said High.

But it’s not completely bad news, High suggests they do the survey again, give the community a second chance by getting the information out to the public quicker and to the point.

By word of mouth, sharing on social media they can come up with a more intense communication effort, she said.

“We want to assure residents we are not trying to catch you in anything this is not a negative thing. It’s to show the (Department of Community and Economic Development) and (US Housing and Urban Development) office that the community deserves the funding for important emergency equipment,” said High.

Supervisor Bill Page agrees that resurveying is the best move going forward.

The surveys are confidential and free and can be dropped off at the Granville Township office or given to the interviewer during the in-person visit.

High says this will not take place until after the new year but just like last time residents can look for a census form in the mail. If they do not respond they may receive an in person visit. If you are not home a green card will be left at your door, reading “on behalf of Granville Township, Mifflin County is applying for federal funding to replace critical Junction Fire Company Fire Safety Equipment, and we need your help to gather information about residents in the project area.”

Individuals will receive the phone number of Carol High of SEDA-COG to call and take the survey.

In other news, Vice Chairman of the Granville Township Board of Supervisors, James Smith Sr. is retiring after 12 years on the Granville Township Board of Supervisors and was honored with a certificate for service.