East Franklin Supervisors Work with Petitioners

The East Franklin Supervisors tried to appease recent petitioners by offering options for extending current sewer plans during a meeting last week.

by Nathan Lasher

The East Franklin Supervisors and recent petition organizers put aside their differences in order to work for the good of their community during a meeting held yesterday at 10AM.

According to Ken Howard of Bankson Engineering, they have been looking at a couple of areas for extending the current sewer system and have sent requests to the D.E.P. for approval to use their current funding to do so. “We have received word from PENNVEST that they will not allow us to expend funds out of the current funding offer to extend sewers into additional areas within the current project,” said Howard. “The direction that PENNVEST has given us is to reapply to PENNVEST if we want to seriously consider extending the sewer system. We have a couple of options. One would be that you could apply to PENNVEST for an additional funding package. Two would be you could apply to the H2O PA Grant Agency. It’s a Commonwealth financing agency that you would make an application for this project. We have taken a look at the areas in the township that are in need of sewage service.”

The areas that Howard included in his study were the area from the uphill side of Adrian up to Montgomery Road, Baer Road which is in the Cowansville/Worthington Road area, Ridge road, along route 268 north of Montgomery Road from the Township Building at Furnace Run just north of the Rolling Hills Road area, and along Route 4006 out of Adrian.

“As part of this we put a budget together for all of those line extensions. Also to file applications to PENNVEST or H2O PA we would include a GIS mapping system if we were to get funding from another funding source. This total, once we’ve added all of those extensions together, comes to $2,864,600,” said Howard. “If you have a tap fee in the amount of $500 across all of your customers which would be current customers and the proposed additional 51 customers for all of those extensions, and if you were to borrow the remaining balance of that money from PENNVEST with zero grant dollars your user rate would need to be somewhere around $77.58 per month to pay back the debt to build those sewers for all of those areas of expansion. That’s combining the current debt load with the current project plus additional debts to fund the remaining extensions. It would be our recommendation that we could apply to the H2O PA Grant Agency for this total project. You can’t make this affordable to do all of these extensions without some grant money. The user rate of $77 is too high. We have talked in previous meetings about making an application to H2O and this is a summary of what we would look at. Areas of the township that need to have sewer service, areas that people have malfunctioning septic systems like some of the people here have raw sewage pipes that run over the hill. These areas that need sewers would be about this dollar amount, and to fund those areas you will need grant money to help you.”

East Franklin resident and recent petition organizer Kristina Quinn felt that Howard’s estimate possibly included areas that were not as severely affected as her own. “The one thing I would ask of the Board of Supervisors is that you take those areas into consideration of which are in need the most,” said Quinn. “I speak for myself and some of my neighbors that are here. I’ve spoken with Senator Don White and State Representative Jeff Pyle as well, and, unfortunately, where we live, we have no other alternative of updating our septic system without being tied into the municipal system. Because of where our properties are located, the creek that runs through my property and other adjoining properties, I have no opportunity for a sand mound or a leech bed along with a lot of my other neighbors that are in the same position. If the township finds that all of these areas are not as in great need as some, I would hope that you would prioritize which of these areas are most pertinent and imperative that they get the sewage. In order to insure that we may be able to get the funding that we do apply for, we should apply for the most pertinent areas in the township; my stretch of road being one of those. Other houses that have been mentioned may have room to put sand mounds and leech beds in, but we do not.”

Howard responded to Quinn’s comment by saying, “This is a generalized cost estimate to show you that if you don’t have grant money it is pretty hard to do.”

Quinn stressed her prior point and added comments about recent research she has performed into funding for the extensions. “I understand that, and there is grant money available. Like I said, I did speak with Don White and Jeff Pyle and I do know that there is money available,” she said. “They told me to make sure that I stress to my Supervisors that there are numerous Wildcat runoffs on our stretch of property that have no other way of being fixed without municipal sewage, and that I was to ask that our Supervisors recognize the fact that that is one area of the township that is in desperate need of extension; more so than some of the areas that you mentioned sir.”

Howard defended his choices of areas in need of attention. “We have done some needs assessment surveys on some of the other areas and have found many visible malfunctioning systems,” he said.  “Each of these areas we have identified are areas in need as per D.E.P’s recommendations.  H2O PA applications are due at the beginning of July. It would be our recommendation that we go, if you do so desire to make that application, to make the decision today that we go forward with preparing the application to the H2O PA Agency and maybe we could include the additional homes in your area that are further back from the road as part of this.”

“I have spoken to all of them and they are all interested in it being done,” said Quinn. “I’m not saying that those other places that you mentioned are not in need, I’m just saying that they have other alternatives for getting their sewage system. I speak for myself that I do not. I don’t have room for a sand mound or a leech bed and no room to dig up and put in a new holding tank because of where my property sits in correlation with the creek that runs through my property.”

After hearing Quinn’s comment, Howard spoke to the Supervisors. “As part of that procedure, it would also be prudent to revise the 537 sewage facility plan to include these areas. As part of the funding for these projects, they are going to look to the D.E.P. to see if it is identified in the 537 and a viable area that needs sewers. I would think those two things need to happen together,” he said.

Supervisor Doug Flanders made two motions that will move the process forward for possibly extending sewage to other areas of East Franklin Township not included in the current plan.

At that point, Supervisor Doug Flanders made two motions which were seconded and carried. The first motion was to update the 537 sewage facility plan to reflect the recommendations that were mentioned. The second motion was to proceed with a request to H2O PA to make a grant application that would possibly make the extension project possible and cost-effective.  

After these motions were carried, Howard explained the H20 PA grant a little more deeply, and Quinn offered some help for the application process. “When I spoke with Jeff Pyle’s office and Don White’s office, if the township is willing, the residents of the township have gotten together and have circulated a petition. Senator Don White and Jeff Pyle said that it would be greatly beneficial when you guys do submit to PENNVEST and the H2O board to provide a copy of those,” said Quinn. “Also, the residents along my stretch of road are drafting a letter to send to the attention all of the members of the PENNVEST board to express the extreme need of sewage to be extended to our area. I would just like the board to know that that information will be provided to you if you request it to be sent along in order for us to have more of a chance of getting the grants. We have accumulated a good number of signatures and we are still working on it. If you let us know when you need to have it by to send it in, we would be more than happy to give them to you to help support the request.”

At that time, Howard explained that the deadline for application is the end of June. “Anything that we can get such as newspaper articles documenting the need for sewage in that area would be appreciated,” he said.

Quinn ended the conversation by saying, “We will work as hard as we can to get as many signatures as possible.”

By the end of the discussion, the East Franklin Supervisors and the residents organizing the petitions decided to work together for the good of bringing sewage service to a wider area of East Franklin Township.

East Franklin Residents Question Validity of Township Officials

East Franklin Auditor Chairwoman Rose Brosius challenged the state of employment of multiple East Franklin Township officials' during a meeting held yesterday morning.

by Nathan Lasher

East Franklin Auditor Chairwoman Rose Brosius questioned the validity of various East Franklin Officials positions during a packed Supervisors’ meeting yesterday morning.

Brosius addressed the Supervisors as well as the approximately 20 people in attendance by saying, “If you have not taken your oath, then your position is vacant.” Brosius went on to explain that she has recently filed a Right to Know form requesting information regarding the Oaths of Office for various East Franklin Township Officials. She stated that her research found that some officials have not taken their oaths.

According to Article V, Section 501 of the East Franklin Township Code, every person elected or appointed to any township office shall before assuming the duties of the office take and subscribe an oath or affirmation before a notary public, district justice, or judge to support the Constitutions of the United States and of the Commonwealth and to perform the duties of the office with fidelity. A copy of the oath or affirmation shall be filed with the township secretary before assuming the duties of the office.

“If that is true, we have officials in our township holding titles that should not be here presently,” said Brosius. “What do we intend to do?”

Supervisor Barry Peters responded by saying, “I guess we will have to find out from our Solicitor.”

East Franklin resident Kristina Quinn added to Brosius’s comments. “I’m a notary public. You can’t retroact a date,” she said. “You are responsible to uphold the township codes, and you have not done your job. There is no reason that anyone working for this township should not be sworn in. If we filled-out right to know forms and this is all we got, then these rules are not being followed. If it all goes down to the end, anything that they passed and approved is gone. Also, all compensation is to be repaid to the township, and I’m sure the solicitor will find the same thing. What do you plan on doing?”

Secretary Debra Cornman addressed the situation. “There is a certification you sign and send into state. That’s what I was told,” she said.

Quinn replied, “Section 501 specifically states that anyone elected or appointed must follow those guidelines.”

At this time, Peters said, “We won’t argue. We will contact our solicitor.”

Brosius explained to the Supervisors that she did not want any more decisions to be made until the solicitor, Roger Mechling, was consulted. The auditors’ reorganization meeting as well as a planning committee meeting will be postponed until a decision is made. “As residents, I think we would like to have Mr. Mechling here to discuss this at the next meeting if that can be done,” said Brosius. “He may be able to solve a lot of issues and a lot of anger in the township.

The Supervisors agreed to ask Solicitor Mechling to attend the next Supervisors’ meeting which is planned to be held Thursday, March 25.