August 21, 2001 Special Meeting:
Sewage Ordinance:
The only purpose of this meeting was to pass the sewage ordinance. The ordinance passed. This ordinance will allow us to pump out failed septic systems, and bill the property owner. This ordinance is intended to protect the neighbors, who would be at risk of having sewage leak onto their property.
September 13, 2001 Maidencreek Supervisor's Meeting:
The September Meeting opened with a moment of silence, in memory of the 9/11/01 victims in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
Well Water:
Polluted wells have been discovered near Park Road and Dries Road, and near West Wesner Road and Bertolet. Residents living in these areas are encouraged to have their own wells checked.
Storm Water:
More complete discussion of the issue is available at The Storm Water Zone.
The clean up of the 7/25/01 storm has cost the Township $40,000.
It was decided to have township personnel do some work to temporarily mitigate storm water running behind homes on Cassidy Court in the Blandon Meadows Development. A more permanent solution will have to be arrived at with the participation of the developer and neighboring developers. Having the township fix inadequate storm water systems in the wake of developers amounts to a virtual subsidy of those developers. We need stronger storm water ordinances to assure new construction has storm water designs that are fault tolerant.
My position on Storm Water:
We should require new construction to have a buffer between the 100 year flood plane (calculated assuming 100% efficiency) and any buildings. It was suggested this buffer be an arbitrary elevation say 3 feet or so. This would be an improvement, but we can do better. With the computer models available today, it is simple for the designer to calculate a worst case buffer level assuming 100% blockage of all the pipes and culverts.
A typical plot plan near a stream would have two lines the 100 year flood plane and the worst case buffer line. There should be three requirements for construction between the two lines:
Finished floors must be 1 foot above the worst case buffer level.
There will be no openings into the sewer (vents and manholes) below the worst case buffer level.
Houses located between the two lines should have no basements.
Had these ideas been included in our ordinances years ago, we could have avoided many problems. You may think the no basement provision is a little severe, but the water is likely to achieve the buffer level when ice and slush block culverts during a thawing spring rain. Builders put furnaces, and electrical boxes in basements. A resident in the buffer area will not appreciate losing his electricity, heat and whatever he has stored in his basement on a cold night in March. This is a little bit of a departure from my usual attitude of letting people do what they want. The problem is, people have an expectation that the Township has protected them from water problems. This expectation can result in tax money being used to clean up after developers. Using tax money for such a purpose is a subsidy of the developer. I think a more rigorous ordinance is the best way to protect other tax payers in the township.
Terry, and Karl indicated these changes are not needed, since most of the development has already occurred in Maidencreek. This may be true, but we still have the Schaeffer farm. Infrastructure improvements to US 222 and the continued growth along the Reading Allentown corridor may cause demand for more development in the future. Storm water ordinances that are more realistic will cause developers to bear the true cost of their contribution to storm water. The earlier developers got a bit of a free ride with storm water, this can not continue.
Flood Plane: Residents who are outside the official 100 year flood plane can not get flood insurance. People inside the flood plane are required by their lenders to have flood insurance. Some people outside the 100 year flood plane are being regularly flooded. Should we ask FEMA to recalculate the flood plane? It may help residents who truly have water problems (they will be able to buy insurance), but it may hurt others. What are your thoughts?
Please let me know what your opinion is on this storm water, and flood plane issue. email: Roy Timpe
Bedrock Stone:
The provisional agreement between the township and Bedrock Stone was extended another 2 months. To allow time for DEP permits. All three of us voted to give the extension on the agreement.
Leaf Burning:
Part of the mandatory recycling is that leaf burning will have to be prohibited in all zoning areas of the township. Including Agricultural.
paid for by Roy Timpe