From Leaky Roofs To Aging Roads, Middletown Weighs Multi-Million Dollar Plan To Fix Infrastructure

Township Manager Eden Ratliff giving is capital overview last month. Credit: Submitted

Middletown Township are reviewing a nearly $9.7 million capital plan to address aging infrastructure, from leaky roofs and decaying police cars to roads in need of paving.

Township Manager Eden Ratliff spoke of the proposal during a budget workshop at the Raymond P. Mongillo Community Center in the Levittown section last month.

The plan outlines $4.9 million in maintenance projects and $4.7 million in improvements that the administration believes are needed.

Ratliff told residents the township is facing a $2.8 million operating deficit in its 2025 budget.

“We’re starting behind the ball,” Ratliff said. “The township’s approved budget for 2025 is spending $2.8 million more than what we’re bringing in in revenue.”

He added that if nothing changes, the deficit could grow by an additional $1 million next year.

Eighty percent of the township’s costs are tied to employee salaries and services, he said.

The largest single expense in the proposal is a $1.1 million municipal building roof replacement.

The Middletown Township Municipal Center in August.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com

Ratliff said there is water damage inside the building and buckets used to catch leaks during storms.

“Every time we have a rainstorm, we redirect our very capable staff to be deploying buckets throughout the building,” he said.

Other maintenance projects include $1 million for road paving, which is double the current annual allocation of $500,000.

Ratliff said the township maintains 160 miles of roads, and at the current paving rate of one mile per year, it would take 160 years to resurface them all.

The vehicle replacement program calls for four to five new police cars annually, as well as new dump trucks and other public works vehicles.

Ratliff said the township works hard to get the maximum life out of its police vehicles.

“They started telling me things like the floor would rot out and we would take old street signs and weld them into the bottom,” he said.

Proposed capital improvements include a $300,000 upgrade to the police department’s records management software.

Police are looking to switch to Axon’s cloud-based platform, which would integrate with body-worn cameras, Chief of Police Joseph Bartorilla.

The fire and emergency services department is requesting a $70,000 command vehicle to replace a 2010 pickup truck with holes in its bed.

Information technology projects include $50,000 for budget software to replace the current Excel-based system.

Director of Finance Laura Hucklebridge said using Excel with “lots of formulas and hard coded numbers” makes it “very easy to make mistakes and not have accurate figures.”

Public Works Director Eric Gartenmayer said a new maintenance facility is needed to replace the current 1950s-era building, which is too small for modern equipment and lacks a working heating system.

The Middletown Public Works Department yard File photo.

“I don’t even want to explain what we did last winter,” Gartenmayer said of how workers provided heat in the building.

Proposed transportation projects include $400,000 for ADA-compliant curb ramps.

Assistant Township Manager Nick Valla said the township has 594 non-compliant ramps, and at the current replacement rate of 20 per year, it would take 30 years to complete all upgrades.

“I will be about 60 by the time we catch up,” Valla said.

The assistant township manager additionally said PennDOT mandated that township’s traffic signal mast arms also need to be replaced. Some have already been replaced as development has happened.

The township plans to offset costs through grant funding, including $661,000 already secured, Valla said.

The township is proposing $1.4 million in grant applications from the Bucks County Redevelopment Authority, which uses revenue from Parx Casino to fund municipal projects, Valla said.

The assistant township manager said estimated the township could receive approximately 60 percent of the requested grant funding, potentially reducing the overall capital impact by $3.5 million.

While speaking to residents, Ratliff said township officials are also looking to see what infrastructure projects public works crews can undertake on their own.

During the meeting, residents used mobile devices to rank project priorities and allocate hypothetical spending across categories, including public safety, infrastructure, and parks.

Supervisor Chairperson Mike Ksiazek said the meeting was the first step in the annual budget process, which will include several additional public meetings this fall.

Ksiazek said everything in the capital presentation will not be funded in one year, but Ratliff wanted them to know the while picture.

Ratliff, who only started as township manager in July, told residents not to worry about the large figure, as it will be whittled down and priorities will be picked.

The complete capital project list and budget calendar are available on the township website.

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