Supervisors Meeting: From District Courts Pending Lease to Amended Sewage Ordinance

NEWTOWN SQUARE–A regularly scheduled meeting got a little heated when talk turned to a homeowner-related sewage ordinance on Monday night.

National Engineer's Week in Newtown

Before discussing the ordinance of note, the board approved a resolution stating that the week of Feb. 20 to 26 will be observed as National Engineer’s Week in Newtown Township to recognize and celebrate the achievements of engineers.

Update on District Courts Lease With Newtown Township

Following a request for an update on the district offices, Chairman George Wood (R-5th District) replied, “They’re squeezing us to lower the rent. We may just have to tell them to seek a place elsewhere.”

At their last meeting on Jan. 24, the board amended their lease with the district courts asking that they move into the second-floor of the township building no earlier than July of this year. The county's two district courts currently located in the Gauntlett Community Center is looking for a new location as the community center gets renovated.

Sewage Ordinance Amended With Clarifications on Inspection Costs

The meeting then turned to discussion of a proposed amendment of Ordinance No. 2011, Article I, Section 130-3.

The summary reads: “An ordinance amending Chapter 130 entitled ‘Sewers’ of the Ordinances of the Townshipof Newtown, Delaware County, Pennsylvania by amending Article I, Section 130-3, general regulations which would require connection to a constructed sanitary sewer or sewer lateral by voluntary request by homeowner or after official notice from the township to do so which notice shall result from an inspection by a township representative.”

A motion was made to approve the ordinance as is, which was quickly seconded, at which point Wood voiced several reservations raised by a resident.

One of the reservations voiced was that the ordinance did not specify to whom the cost of the sewage inspection would fall upon: the township or the residents.

Wood noted that such an inspection system would be costly for the township.
The supervisors discussed the amendment for about 30 minutes with concerns raised about the wording, necessity of the amendment and the cost of the inspections.

“Why are we hurrying this along?” Supervisor Joseph Catania (R-8th District) asked at several points in the discussion.

During the public comments portion of the meeting, a resident also shared the same sentiments as Catania while another resident wanted to speed the process along.

“Remember the health, safety and welfare of our township,” resident Joanne Krasas said in a public comment. “This needs to be passed quickly: lots of people’s [sewage] systems are failing them and we can’t afford to put this off.”

After much discussion of who and how inspections should be done, the board amended the amendment.

The previous wording, stating that the homeowner consents to an inspection by a township representative, was changed to “the homeowner hereby consents to an
inspection of their sewer system by a licensed Sewage Enforcement Officer, at the cost of the homeowner.”

Discussions Begin on Police Overtime Pay 

In an unrelated matter, discussions about police officer overtime were begun, but will be resumed with a further consideration of overtime rates at the next township meeting Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m.