Homeowners question officials about public sewer

KENNETT TOWNSHIP » A sizable crowd turned out Wednesday night seeking answers from Kennett Township supervisors about the possibility of public sewers, but not everyone wanted the same answer.

The supervisors said they were aware that someone had sent around a flyer on West Hillendale Road, suggesting people come to the supervisors’ public meeting that night and ask whether public sewer service was going to be coming to the existing homes there.

Jane Fiore, a West Hillendale homeowner, said she had felt neighbors would be interested in whether or not public sewer lines would be available since the Sinclair Springs development on the north side of the road would be tying into the borough system.

Fiore said she was interested in the question because she had put her property on the market and then found her septic system would not meet the required efficiency for a new owner.

There were technical and regulatory reasons a new septic system would be very expensive for her, Fiore said. And she added that many buyers are unfamiliar with septic systems and apprehensive about buying a home equipped with one.

For those reasons, Fiore said, she wanted to know if the township had any plans to extend the public sewer to the established properties on West Hillendale, because she had heard it did not.

“Help us understand why this can’t be done at this time or any time,” Fiore said.

Scudder Stevens, chairman of the board of supervisors, told Fiore the legal and technical aspects of the sewer question were complicated, and asked township Manager Lisa Moore to explain.

Moore said the Sinclair Springs developer had paid to get a public sewer line via an easement through to Ridge Avenue, in the borough to the north.

For the township to have a public sewer line on West Hillendale, Moore said, it would have to define the area where the sewer would go and do surveys of houses there to determine if the level of need required by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) was present. It would then apply to amend the sewer plan filed with the DEP, which would have to approve the change.

The supervisors had no plans to begin the process, she said, and even if they did it would take a year or two to complete.

And another consideration, Moore said, was that if public sewer went in on West Hillendale, everyone there would be required to tie in to it, and that involved a considerable expense for fees and pumps. During the Sinclair Springs approval process, she said, many people had contacted her to say they did not want to connect to the public sewer.

That was borne out by several residents who told the supervisors that while they empathized with Fiore in her own situation, their septic systems were adequate and they had no wish to be forced to tie in to a public system.

Moore said Fiore could tie in to the Sinclair Springs system, but it would be expensive.

Supervisor Whitney Hoffman said there had been problems with the private system where she lived, and decisions necessary about how to address it. Such problems never seem to come at a convenient time, she said.

In other business, the supervisors thanked the township police force’s employees association for its donation of a bench to Barkingfield Park.

The supervisors also heard a presentation from Jim Wiley of the Southeastern Pennsylvania group of the Sierra Club, which is urging municipalities to commit to a transition to 100 percent clean and renewable energy.