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BCIU renovation plan proposes underground infiltration basin; commission seeks Muenberg Township review
Summary
An applicant representing BCIU proposed an underground infiltration basin to protect a renovation at 21101 Center Avenue and to disconnect roof leaders from sanitary sewer. Commissioners asked for further intermunicipal coordination because most stormwater facilities sit in Muenberg Township; they authorized staff to contact Muenberg Township for review and inspection roles.
At a detailed sketch-plan review the commission heard a presentation from Mike Soul of Wilkinson Design Group on behalf of BCIU about stormwater work tied to a renovation at 21101 Center Avenue.
Soul said the site is nearly all impervious, that many roof leaders currently discharge to sanitary sewer, and that the project’s central technical solution is an underground infiltration bed located in the parking lot. He described testing that reached virgin ground suitable for infiltration and said the proposed system is designed to contain storms up to a 5-year event. "We call it a 5-year storm event, which is about 4 and a half inches in the 24 of rain in the 24-hour period," he said, and contrasted that with a 100-year event of roughly 7½ inches in 24 hours.
The project would collect roof and paved-area runoff with inlets and pipe it to an underground modular storage/infiltration bed (applicant described the modular units as akin to stacked crates covered in stone). Under the design the basin would fully infiltrate storms up to the 5-year design and allow larger events to spill at surface grade toward Route 61, following existing surface drainage patterns.
Commissioners and staff focused on jurisdiction and long-term responsibility: most of the proposed stormwater facilities lie inside Muenberg Township while the basin outlet and downstream treatment convey into the City of Reading’s system. Commissioners asked which body would inspect, approve and maintain the facilities once constructed. Staff said the plan was reviewed as a sketch plan and recommended that Muenberg Township formally review and, if appropriate, take lead on inspection and maintenance or otherwise document inspection authority in a maintenance/municipal improvements agreement.
Following discussion the commission voted to authorize the planning office to contact Muenberg Township to request guidance on review, inspection and maintenance responsibilities and to coordinate a formal submission to the township’s planning commission. Staff noted Muenberg’s board and planning commission meeting dates and said they would report back with Muenberg’s position; the item is expected to return to the commission after that coordination.
Commissioners also raised geotechnical and public-safety questions (sinkhole risk related to limestone substrata, erosion and sediment control, and fire/rescue ingress/egress). Applicant and staff said infiltration tests did not indicate sinkhole risk and that erosion/sediment controls and any required HOPs would be part of subsequent permitting.
