VALLEY VIEW - Last month, the Hegins Township supervisors asked Alfred Benesch & Co. to make changes to the proposed Act 537 plan and this month, James Rhoades Jr. reviewed those changes with the supervisors.
Last week, Rhoades explained that Fountain has been removed from the plan completely, Schwenks Road and Broad Street areas have been removed, but a portion of Gap Street has been added. Lambertson has been changed to a gravity flow from a lower pressure system, per the supervisors' request.
He also pointed out that the total costs went from $29.6 million as the plan stood in January to $26.9 million with the proposed changes. Rhoades said the plan stands ready upon approval from the supervisors to enter the 30-day public comment period.
The plan was not approved without many questions and lengthy discussion.
Although the supervisors didn't request the addition of Gap Street, Supervisor LeRoy Shuey said there are a number of homes in that area that are situated on 0.3 to 0.7 acres of land which causes concern for on-lot systems.
Rhoades said if they didn't include that portion, he felt that DEP would come back in their technical comment period and suggest that the area needs to be sewered. According to records from Hegins-Hubley Authority, only three out of the 12 homes in that area are served by public water, the rest have private wells. Rhoades said the lot sizes and the fact that private wells are being used would be a red flag from the state Department of Enviromental Protection.
Supervisor Mike Begis said since there is public water available already to those homes, he suggested to submit the plan without that section included and see what DEP does with it. The other supervisors agreed to wait and see what DEP says. The cost for that portion of the plan was approximately $406,000. The total cost without Gap Street would be $26.5 million.
Hegins resident John Giansello asked the supervisors what the process is at this point. He said it seems difficult to have an intelligent conversation at this point since no one nor possibly even the board had the chance to sit down and review the 5-inch thick binder of the proposed plan.
Rhoades said it's up to the board of supervisors to review the plan and decide when they want to advertise for the 30-day public comment period.
Giansello also asked if Fearnot is still included in the current plan and if the public could get some answers to specific questions.
Supervisor Begis told Giansello at that point, the supervisors were still discussing the plan and as a board.
Supervisor Brad Carl also questioned whether the sewer pipes would run along Route 125 in Lambertson. He suggested running the pipes through the "paper alleys."
Rhoades said that was looked at and the cost would be higher to run through the "paper alleys."
Once the board was done discussing the changes, Giansello was allowed to ask more questions.
"I would like to know what your rationale is for including Fearnot to the extent you do, why is this desirable?" Giansello asked.
Rhoades said the primary reason that Hubley Township chooses to consider Fearnot is because of the DEP comment letter regarding the outlying areas. The 22 surveys conducted by the SEO identifies 45 percent confirmed malfunctions, 5 percent suspected and 23 percent potential and 27 percent no failures.
"Couldn't such a discreet area be addressed by off lot system remedies?" Giansello asked.
Giansello also asked about the rationale for site 6 versus site 10 for the treatment plant.
Rhoades said the cost is the reason. $26.9 million for site 6 and $27.8 million for 10, both numbers assume Fearnot is to be included. The cost for Fearnot Road is $2.1 million.
Although all the numbers included in the current plan are forecasts, as it stands today the monthly cost of a sewer bill would be $68.95, which came down from $71.90 as predicted in January. PENVEST guidelines say to figure a maximum of 20 percent grant allocation. Based on that figure, 20 percent would lower the cost to $54.02, while a 10 percent grant would bring the cost in at $61.04.
Rhoades was also questioned whether there is room for expansion built into the system. He said DEP does allow for some growth, but not how Shuey presented last month, about adding on enough room to bring Hubley Township on at a later time.
Valley View resident Randy Shadle asked Shuey if the other two supervisors were aware last month that the other engineering firm that Shuey attempted to get hired could have saved the township money and paid for three radios that will need updated.
"I was aware of this only an hour before the meeting and it was unethical move on the other engineer," Begis said. "I had no idea Shuey was related to the other engineer until I read the article in the paper. That engineer could get in trouble and it's unethical and I'm having no part of that."
Shuey said there is no financial connection to the relative engineer so therefore according to Shuey, there was no problem with that.
The supervisors voted to advertise the plan for the 30-day comment period contingent on the changes in regards to Gap Street.
Route 25 study
A letter was sent to PennDOT in December to request the speed limit be lowered in front of the high school. PennDOT said since the speed limit on Route 25 fluctuates so much, a speed study is recommended to have a more suitable speed throughout the entire town. The supervisors said there is no cost involved to the township.
Concern
Leon Maurer asked the board of supervisors what can be done to alleviate an accident waiting to happen at Little Blessings Daycare located at St. Andrew's United Methodist Church in Valley View.
He said if it wouldn't have been for a mother grabbing her child in the nick of time, the child would have ran between his truck and trailer. He said it's very dangerous for students and parents to be using the side door on Old Mill Road. He suggested that parents and students enter the daycare from the main entrance of St. Andrew's located off Route 25.
The supervisors said they will send a letter requesting them to do that for safety concerns.