Portion of Road Vacated for New Church Building

Leaders of a Robertsville church said they were surprised by questions from a neighbor about the location of their new building, which extends into a portion of the former South Third Street.

The individual who raised the question of the location asked that her name not be used because she has friends who attend the church.

“I just wondered why it is OK for the Shiloh Baptist Church to build the new building in such a way as to completely block the county road,” she said. “If they had built it west-east, where there is plenty of room, instead of north-south, the road would still be usable.”

The protestor said that as a resident of the Robertsville area, she frequently uses the road, especially when school is in session and she has to contend with buses.

Steve Woodruff, Shiloh Baptist Church deacon and trustee in charge of building and grounds, said Franklin County had vacated a portion of the road for the new building and that proper procedures had been followed.

“I’m the one who went up to the building department in Union and asked whether the county ever vacated roads or alleys,” Woodruff said. “They said the county could, but the request had to come from a church officer.”

Woodruff said he and the church secretary returned to the county to make the official request that the street be vacated.

“They explained that the matter had to be posted in several places around the community,” Woodruff said. “I don’t remember exactly where or for how long, but we did what they said.”

Several church officers participated in posting the notices.

“I do recall that one notice was posted in the BP Station in Catawissa,” Woodruff said.

Woodruff said no questions were raised during the time the notices of the road being vacated were posted.

“To my knowledge, no one ever complained or questioned it,” he said. “The church did everything right.”