December 2020 eNewsletter

Transitioning to the 21^st Century Amid COVID-19

By Jacob Pride, Smithfield Supervisor

One of the beliefs I campaigned for in my election for Supervisor was increasing transparency. No one could have ever imagined that COVID-19 would be our impetus to start streaming meetings. Beginning in March, Smithfield Township began experimenting with live streaming. Initially, we streamed via Facebook. We received hundreds of views – which for local government is a wild success.

Within a month, we realized we needed to find a more accessible platform, which led us to Zoom. In order to stream, we deployed a number of personal devices and a hefty set of wires throughout the meeting room. We had a successful operation, but not necessarily a stable one. Anyone who attended any meeting in-person at the Municipal Center could attest to the stack of binders, laptops, iPads, iPhones, and more. As the pandemic continued, the federal and state response began to accelerate. Thanks to the CARES Act, Monroe County was able to open a grant program for municipalities, businesses, and non-profits.

Smithfield Township secured nearly $24,000 in funding for COVID-related expenses. Part of that grant was spent on necessary technological upgrades for our meeting room. The upgrades and capital purchases included a MacBook Pro with accessories to run broadcasts and allow constituents to make in-house presentations available on Zoom, two 4K wide-angle webcams to display the meeting room, a new Bluetooth microphone/speaker for meetings, Zoom costs for the remainder of the year, and a lectern to house the broadcast equipment.

The new system stabilizes and expands the township’s ability to broadcast to constituents. To see the new system in action, please consider joining one of our meetings via Zoom or YouTube.

WHITE LINE FEVER – What happened to our line painting?
by Robert Lovenheim

“White Line Fever” is actually the name of an old trucker movie, but it’s also appropriate for our road striping experience this fall, and why some of our roads cry out for a new paint job. Every year the townships in Monroe County get together and receive bids for line painting. This year, the company that won did such a disappointing job that they were fired halfway through.

Those who suffered most were drivers that followed too close to the paint truck and found paint splattered on their vehicles. The paint/glass formula used by the painting companies doesn’t come off easily. Power washing wet paint will remove most of it. Applying WD-40 for an hour to soften it and then re-washing the car will help, and using petroleum jelly overnight for heavy accumulations or for paint that has dried for several days should rid most (if not all) of the paint from the vehicle’s finish.

Highway paint is made from thermoplastic resin mixed with titanium-dioxide pigment and tiny, reflective glass beads — that’s why it shines at night. It only takes 30-90 seconds to dry, so the normal routine is for a “drying truck” to follow at a distance behind the painting truck to make sure cars don’t drive on the wet paint. This crew did not have a drying truck following them. Verdict: “You’re fired.”

Unfortunately, it is now too cold to hire another contractor to finish the job. Our Roadmaster estimates that about 80% of our roads are okay until spring when we can resume painting, but it’s not the best situation. The paint, especially on road edges, sometimes is the only safety factor drivers have to steer through turns on dark nights—especially when someone forgets to dim their high beams.

Another problem with the glass beads is they get scraped off by plows, and that combined with optics makes it almost impossible to see the lines on dark rainy nights. There is a product that supposedly is better, 3M microcrystalline ceramic beads. This is one of several more expensive and experimental  approaches to solving the night vision problem, but none are in general use among line striping companies (when your bid is based on lowest price, why use more expensive products?). New developments in Lidar-based steering systems (like radar) will probably automate driving and be able to “feel” the sides of the road or lane edges long before highway striping catches up. Remember, as you get older, the receptors in your eyes that control night vision continually lose sensitivity. Remember to drive carefully and defensively!