Hanover Township Council unanimously approved a five-year capital program for 2013-17 during its Aug. 15 meeting. Major projects contemplated in the program include repairing two deteriorating culverts under Postal Road, maintaining the streets improvement fund at $1 million and contributing $200,000 for improvements to the Allentown water systems that serve a portion of the township.

Township Manager Sandra Pudliner and the township's maintenance supervisor recommended that the board adopt SCADA software to monitor pumping stations. The present system uses dialers to alert maintenance personnel to problems, while SCADA uses a computer connection.

Council decided to keep the existing system and suggested management concentrate on the amount of time spent handling outages that constituted the majority of the costs. SCADA's start-up costs were estimated at $50,000 with full implementation expected to be between $150,000 and $200,000.

The new capital budget includes funds to pay the annual debt on the municipal building now under construction and slated to be occupied the beginning of September.

"The auction of the old furniture, which has been delayed several times, is scheduled for today, Aug. 30 beginning at 1:30 p.m.," said Pudliner.

Houser Auctioneers is advertising the sale as "everything sells to the bare walls." The new building will be equipped with mostly new furniture.

In other business, council awarded bids for the 2012 road program to Bracalente Construction. The specifications call for resurfacing Cedar Hill Drive off Irving Street. Cedar Hill Drive primarily serves the Allendale Apartment complex. Last year the road was dug up to make sewer repairs and it will now be improved to the latest standards.

Joan Leonard, the owner of the Chess and Checkers restaurant, also asked council for relief from a water bill that doubled.

"We had a leak in the soft water system. It was difficult to detect. According to the plumber, the valve cracked because the level of chlorine was too high," said Leonard. Township Engineer Fredrick Hay countered that chlorine levels in the water system are monitored and there has been no noted increase.

Council was reluctant to grant relief until the owners address the situation with their insurance company.

Also during the meeting, Hay reported that the installation of a new three-way stop sign at the Airport Center mall has alleviated much of the traffic congestion that occurred at the T-intersection near the Target store.

"We are pleased with the way this has worked," he said.