By John Chambless
Staff Writer

There were a few new items on the agenda for the June 6 Board of Supervisors meeting in East Marlborough Township, but the old issue of traffic speeding through the village of Unionville dominated the debate.

During public comment at the beginning of the meeting, Tom Blomer, who lives at 1667 W. Doe Run Road in Unionville, submitted a petition to the supervisors that was signed by 38 residents, asking the board to take action on speeders and to restrict truck traffic.

“I live near Hood's, and there is traffic going 50 to 70 miles per hour past my house,” Blomer told the board. “Nobody stops for pedestrians at the crosswalk by Hood's. Nobody,” he added.

Heavy truck traffic shakes the foundations of the village's historic homes, Blomer said, causing fractures and settling. “I know there was a Safety Committee formed to look at the speeding and trucks, but nothing's been done. We're going on six years now,” he said.

Chief of Police Robert Clarke said that officers do watch for speeders in the village, “but we're not just assigned to the village. We've got the whole township,” Clarke said. “There are only two part-timers and me.”

Board chairman Richard Hannum, Jr., said, “We've had these discussions before. We did a traffic study two years ago. We have plans and outlines, and we talked about installing raised crosswalks, but it's a funding issue, and there were some issues around maintenance and plowing. We have not gone to the next steps.”

Township manager Jane Laslo added that there are crosswalks being installed at the east end of the village, near the new park. There are also issues with adding a more prominent crosswalk by Hood's because laws prohibit having traffic exiting so close to a crosswalk. The proposed site is where traffic for the ball fields enters Route 82.

Hannum took Blomer's name and contact information, and said that he would welcome Blomer's contribution to the Safety Committee.

Unionville resident Jack Greenwood angrily told the board, “I've been involved in this issue for years, and it's time for this board to get serious. I've worked out solutions and presented them to the board, but there have been no Safety Committee meetings in over a year. I send emails and nobody responds. I tell you about trucks that are tearing up our roads and our houses, and Jane Laslo laughs about it. She thinks it's funny,” Greenwood said.

“That is absolutely untrue,” Laslo began, but Greenwood cut her off.

“If this township wants to get busy and do something, you've got to take action now. No more words,” he said. Greenwood then walked out of the meeting.

Later in the evening, the board heard from Kim Holt about a 'Run for Recovery' to be held in November by Celebrate Recovery, a group that meets at Willowdale Chapel. The run will accompany a family festival to be held at Willowdale, and the goal is “to unify the community around the issue of recovery,” Holt said.

Supervisor Robert Weer tried to convince the Willowdale representatives to route the run away from heavily traveled Route 82, but was told that the brief stretch of the route that will close the roadway for about an hour was the best alternative.

“We sure do have a lot of runners,” Weer said. “But I give up.”

The supervisors voted to approve the plan for the run, with Weer abstaining.

The board also approved replacing a township pickup truck that has more than 110,000 miles with a 2017 GMC Sierra, at a cost of $46,291. The truck will be outfitted with a plow for winter use. Laslo said the township had allotted $60,000 in the budget for replacing the vehicle, “so we're covered,” she said. “This is a bit less.”

To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, email [email protected].