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Contractors have begun working on a long-planned project that will, when it's completed, be Providence Township's largest housing development.
Earlier this month excavators began creating the stormwater management contours for the first phase of Creekside. The development, in the planning stages for nearly a decade, will eventually have 216 homes on just over 94 acres of ground between Fairview Rd. and Ridge Rd. Resident, Providence Township claim ‘safety improvement’ on Rt. 272 will make highway more unsafe10/10/2019
It's unsafe.
That's how one Providence Township resident describes PennDOT's plan to change traffic patterns on a 3.5 mile stretch of Lancaster Pike (Rt. 272). Township officials agree. "We think this is not a good thing," Township Manager Vicki Eldridge said last week. Last year's event exceeded organizers' expectations.
"We didn't know what to expect," Providence Township zoning officer Heidi Martinez said last week. "We've had about 50 people come to our annual picnic, so we didn't know how many would come out for the first time we combined that with the National Night Out. We got between 400 and 500 people [in 2018]. We did not think we would get that many." By early next month, drivers will be able to use a new bridge that carries Providence Township's Hollow Rd. over an unnamed tributary of the Big Beaver Creek.
The original bridge was destroyed by a storm in August, 2018. The township used two ABS pipes to replace that bridge temporarily. Now a permanent span is being installed on the road. Until that work is finished, the road is closed between Sawmill Rd. and Truce Rd. Members of the Southern Lancaster County Farmers Sportsmen's Association want to build a new clubhouse.
But before they can start, they need approval from Providence Township's Zoning Hearing Board. Two incumbents lost their bids for reelection in the Tuesday, May 21, primary election, according to unofficial results posted by the county board of elections.
Eden Supervisor Randon J. Kylar lost his bid for the Republican nomination to challenger Lawrence M. Stoltzfus. Stoltzfus received 119 votes to Klar's 58. Decisions by zoning hearing boards in neighboring municipalities will allow establishment of a new cemetery and permit an owner to keep a driving horse on a residentially-zoned property.
On Tuesday, April 9, Providence Township's zoning hearing board voted to permit Elam J. Esch to establish a cemetery at 111 Pennsy Rd. On Monday, March 25, Quarryville Borough's board agreed to allow a driving horse on a residential property on W. State St. Both votes were unanimous. When they cut the ribbon to dedicate the bridge over Rt. 222, state officials said they would like to see a marathon run on the low grade rail trail when it's completed.
While neither they nor the trail are ready for that long a race, Providence Township officials thought they could test the idea with a pair of shorter runs. Dozens of volunteer firefighters responded to a reported house fire on Hopkins Mill Rd. just off Truce Rd., Providence Township, shortly before noon on Tuesday, March 19.
Originally dispatched as a woods fire, it was quickly upgraded to a house fire. Arriving firefighters found the building engulfed in flames; neighbors said the building had been being demolished for several days. Fire police officers who had been directing traffic several miles away said smoke had been coming from the area all morning long. Volunteers and equipment from Rawlinsivlle were being assisted by firefighters and apparatus from Willow Street, West Willow, New Danville, Refton, Strasburg, Quarryville, and Strasburg.  Firefighters and emergency medical personnel were called to a barn collapse in the 800 block of Lancaster Pike (Rt. 272), Providence Township, shortly before 9 a.m. on Wednesday, July 25.
Read more... "In a year's time, I didn't see many of the roadmasters in the lower half of Lancaster County," Jason McClune said last week, "and our supervisors have been pushing better communications with other townships."
So McClune wrapped up his first year as Providence Township's roadmaster by hosting a meeting of fellow roadmasters. "I wanted to open the lines of communication so, if we go out for bids, we might be able to get a better deal if we did it as a group," he said.  As he made the transition from one job to another, Jason McClune realized the two positions have one basic goal.
"It's still about public safety," he said last week. McClune left his position as Solanco School District's director of transportation at the end of 2015 and began his new job as Providence Township's roadmaster on January 4. A new grant will, if approved, fund repairs to the east end of the Enola Low Grade rail trail.
Providence Township will write the request for $1 million from Pennsylvania's Transportation Alternatives Program. The TAP program is open to grant requests until January 8, 2016. Grant applications must be for at least $500,000 and no more than $1 million. When the new school year begins next month, the Amish community will have two new schools.
Those schools are under construction in Providence and Little Britain townships. A third is under consideration in Eden Township. Quarryville Borough is asking four neighboring townships to help pay for the local fire company's workman's compensation insurance.
"We've been talking about this for several years," borough manager Ken Work said last week. "We want the surrounding townships to pay their share." The borough has been paying the entire cost of the insurance, just over $21,000 for the coming year. The stone arch that carries the Low Grade Rail Trail over Pumping Station Rd. is inching closer to demolition.
"PennDOT, Norfolk Southern, and Eden Township have made progress in complying with the PUC order to remove the bridge," PennDOT spokesman Gregory Penny said last month, "… but there are still a few last-minute details that need to be addressed." Providence Township is closer to linking two sections of the Enola Low Grade rail trail.
Last month, Providence, Bart, and Eden townships were awarded an $180,000 Community Recreation and Conservation Program grant. Providence Township officials will receive an award for preserving the community's one-room schoolhouse.
The township will get one of a dozen C. Emlen Urban Preservation Awards given out by the Lancaster County Preservation Trust. The award will be presented on November 11. Workers hoisted a 10--foot-long bridge over Sigman Road in Providence Township last Thursday.The bridge connects sections of the Atglen-Susquehanna rail trail.  Kids and their parents are being invited to help determine the health of a section of the Big Beaver Creek in Providence Township.
The survey, conducted in cooperation with the Pequea Watershed Association and the Lancaster County Conservation District, will count the fish and insects in a section of the stream on August 16. The results will help state and local officials determine how healthy the creek is and give a catalogue of its underwater life.  By late Thursday morning, July 17, a portion of the Atglen to Susquehanna rail trail had a new surface.
"We wanted it smoother for the walkers and people who ride bicycles," said Providence Township Manager Vicki Eldridge. "This makes a nice surface for the trail." Workers from Long's Asphalt had reached the trail's intersection with Fairview Rd. on Thursday and were ready to head east. They had put down a new base in some sections and were overlaying Providence Township's portion of the trail with a coating of crushed limestone dust. One Southern End township is working to allow Amish residents to keep a horse on a one-acre lot while a neighboring township will mandate at least two acres for one horse.
The changes come as an increasing number of Amish residents move into homes on one-acre lots, township officials said last week. Most townships allow one or two horses, known as travel horses, to be kept on a one-acre lot if the horses are the family's only means of transportation. Working from a revised plan, firms have submitted new bids to improve Providence Township's portion of the Enola low grade rail line trail.
The bids range from $279,000 to $409,000 to put down a new surface on eight and a half miles of trail. The work also includes putting a new base down in wet areas and installing a salvaged bridge over Sigman Rd.  When Kathy Kilby started her new job in Providence Township's municipal office, she expected to deal with a lot of paperwork.
"I knew there would be a lot of filing," she said. She didn't anticipate the level of activity. "I'm learning how much goes into local government," Kilby said last week. "There's a lot going on. This is a busy place." Southern End townships aren't ready to follow Quarryville Borough's lead and enact property maintenance codes.
In November, borough council approved a property maintenance code that allows municipal officials to deal with everything from overgrown yards to collapsing houses. |
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