Wednesday
September 18, 2024 
A final agreement approved by the Lower Makefield Township Board of Supervisors at its Jan. 18 meeting calls for an initial deposit of $10 million into a trust made up of net proceeds from the township’s $53 million sale of its sewer system to Aqua Pennsylvania.
After paying off some major debts with sale proceeds, the net from the transaction stands at just under $23 million, township Manager David Kratzer said.
All four supervisors present at the meeting expressed hope that the township can fairly soon put more in the trust, but they wanted to keep it at $10 million until determining how much of the remaining $13 million might be needed for other purposes. Also discussed was a plan to have Kratzer put the $13 million into a money market account so it can start drawing more interest.
The idea for the trust, which is being overseen by PNC Financial Services Group, is to protect the principal deposited there and have the interest keep accumulating, or apply interest to the township’s general fund or use it for other purposes.
In other actions from the Jan. 18 meeting, the supervisors approved advertising for bids on the 2023 road program, which will involve repaving or other work on a little more than three miles of township streets, including five roads in the Yardley Run development.
Township Engineer Andy Pockl said he hopes a bid can be awarded in early March and the work completed by Sept. 1. There is $785,000 allocated in this year’s township budget for the road program, he added.
Also approved was advertising for bids on various levels of painting and pre-painting prep work on the four swimming pools at the township pool complex on Edgewood Road. There is $75,000 in the budget for the project, Pockl said.
The board also voted to extend the consulting agreement with former Public Works Director Greg Hucklebridge, who now holds the same position in nearby Northampton Township. The extension is through the end of the year.
Hucklebridge resigned from his Lower Makefield post about mid-year in 2022 but has continued working for the township on a part-time consulting basis, putting in hours as needed to help finish projects or other matters that were ongoing when he left. The original consulting agreement expired at the end of 2022.
The reason for the extension through this year is that Hucklebridge is still helping Lower Makefield with ongoing litigation vs. The Morrisville Municipal Authority, township Solicitor David Truelove said. Hucklebridge will continue to be paid $75 an hour, with the rate rising to $150 an hour for any time he might have to testify in court, Truelove added.
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