Cranberry Township supervisors adopted a 2021 budget, a spending plan that maintains all services and does not include a property tax hike, at their last meeting of the year on Tuesday.
Township manager Chad Findlay said the final budget figure is $6,458,490, a tally that includes the general fund, sewer and water accounts, fire tax, streets lights, road machinery expenses and more.
The property tax rate will remain at 2.44 mills. The last time the township rate was changed was in 2017 when the supervisors cut the rate by a half mill.
Two entries in the budget changed from the time supervisors Harold Best, Fred Buckholtz and Matt McSparren gave their preliminary approval to the spending plan last month.
Findlay said he adjusted the budget to reflect a projected decrease in interest earnings in 2021, to include a rate hike for sewage and water services provided by the City of Oil City, and to show an estimated cost for an Army Corps of Engineers study on the flood-prone Riverside Drive and Deep Hollow Road.
Zoning change made
The supervisors approved a request for a conditional use to allow the Red Express store on Route 257 to sell beer and wine, both for takeout and on-premise consumption.
A conditional use approval is required for certain businesses in a commercially zoned area.
Owners Dennis and Diane Redfield were successful in obtaining a liquor license to expand the business.
In a summary of their request, the owners said that offering beer and wine “provides benefits to the community … (such as) greater convenience and additional dine-in option for gathering.”
The change would also allow the locally owned and operated business to “remain competitive in this challenging time,” said the owners.
The store, which lists about 40 employees, will feature a renovated dining area for casual dining. There will be a two-drink maximum for on-site consumption and valid IDs will be required to purchase wine or beer.
The Redfield family opened its first Red Express, a name that paid homage to founder Ansel Redfield’s nickname of “Red,” on Route 322 in 1985. They expanded to the Route 257 location in 1991.
Renovations at the Route 257 location will be completed in January, and the wine and beer sales and service could begin early in 2021.
