Peters Township Sinks Aquatic Center

Peters Township Council had one agenda item that had all resident’s attention and a second discussion topic that concerned a few at their meeting Monday night. In an anticipated vote, council unanimously rejected all bids for construction of an aquatic center at Rolling Hills Park. Bids for the revised project came in at $17.8 million and above. That is after bids of $13 million were rejected two years ago and the project was scaled back to try and get it into the approved $10.8 million budget amount. The unanimous vote to reject did not match the views of several council members about the project. Council Chairman Frank Kosir has been an aquatic center supporter citing resident survey support of the project but he says it is difficult to see the project being built any time soon. Councilman Gary Stiegel who has never supported the project indicated his relief at the aquatic center’s demise stating that the township has other needs that should be addressed before a pool is built. A second discussion issue at the beginning of the meeting found several residents of Druid Dr. upset with a recent installation of a cellular tower by Verizon on an existing First Energy electric tower. Residents are not happy with the visual aesthetics of the new tower and would like a large cable run on the electrical tower better located to provide better visual appeal. Residents were also upset about the notification of the project. All of them indicated that no notice was given that the installation would occur and that their road would be closed for several days. Residents are calling for better communication about projects between the utilities, the township and residents regarding future projects.