Residents told sewer fixes could be costly

Kennett Township’s new manager said that sewer problems exist requiring expensive fixes as soon as possible.

KENNETT TOWNSHP >> Kennett Township’s new township manager warned the supervisors at last night’s meeting that sewer problems exist requiring expensive fixes as soon as possible.

Eden Ratliff told the supervisors at their second monthly meeting the sewer line along Rosedale Road needed various sorts of work done. He showed video images of different tunnel sections—some in good shape, others deteriorated, and others where the pipe had actually crumbled away over the years.

In places, groundwater was flowing from the roof of the trench into the sewer system. Ratliff pointed out that the township had to pay to treat this water, a needless expense. And if the most deteriorated sections collapsed anywhere it would pose an emergency that would be much more expensive to deal with than normal remediation, he said.

Some sections could be addressed with “cure in place” technology, Ratliff said. This places an inflatable pipe within the existing pipe that is then cured with steam, hot water, or ultraviolet light.

Other sections will need to be excavated and have the missing or damaged pipe replaced. Ratliff said the work is estimated to cost about $530,000. The money is available from the sewer fund, Ratliff said, and he hoped to have a proposal available for the supervisors to act on in November.

Ratliff said another looming problem is present in the Creek Road area, where a needs assessment found that on-lot septic systems were in danger of failing. The township is required to provide wastewater treatment, and so they had to think about extending the sewer line down Creek Road, about a $1 million expense, Ratliff said.

This potential need would have to be considered during the discussions about the 2020 budget, Ratliff said. One option might to do half the project at a time, he said.

Ratliff said it was his understanding that all sewer expenses came out of the sewer fund, which is paid into by people who use the public sewer.

Scudder Stevens, chair of the board of supervisors, had little new to say about the ongoing investigation into the suspicious transactions in the township’s bank accounts that emerged in the spring, stressing as always that they cannot comment for fear of jeopardizing the investigation. Ratliff recently began serving as the new township manager, succeeding Interim Manager Alison Rudolf, who took over after longtime Township Manager Lisa Moore was dismissed in the wake of the investigation.

The supervisors voted to approve the hiring of a human resources consultant to help the township create a number of personnel policies. Ratliff said these would not be standard offthe-shelf policies but would be crafted to “make sense for us.”

The supervisors also voted to release the final payment of $24,947.55 for the Parrish Trail/North Pennock Park Trail refurbishment project.

Eden Ratliff