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Authority discusses Act 537 plan amendment; engineer says developer offered to pay much of update
Summary
Engineer Fred Ebert told the Lower Pottsgrove Township Authority the next financial analysis for an Act 537 plan amendment will be circulated in July; a developer has offered to pay a substantial portion of the plan and the Authority outlined the regulatory review steps to DEP and PENNVEST.
Fred Ebert, the Authority’s engineer, told the Lower Pottsgrove Township Authority on June 8 that he and Solicitor Joseph McGeehan are preparing a financial analysis that will be distributed at the Authority’s July meeting to support a proposed amendment to the township’s Act 537 sewage facilities plan.
Ebert said the amendment would shift the method of treatment from the Borough of Pottstown to the Porter Road Treatment Plant and would fold future service areas into the Authority’s sewer system. “There is a developer who is willing to pay for a significant portion of the Act 537 Plan,” Ebert said, and the Authority will use the financial analysis to decide whether to recommend moving forward.
If the Authority votes to proceed, the plan would go to the Board of Commissioners to authorize preparation, then to the Township and County Planning Commissions and the County Health Department before the Board of Commissioners adopts it by resolution. After local adoption the Authority would submit the amendment to the Department of Environmental Protection for an NPDES permit, then prepare construction documents, apply for a Water Quality Management Permit, pursue funding (including a PENNVEST loan), and move to construction.
Solicitor McGeehan confirmed he will have his accountant review the financial analysis “from a private business perspective,” which he said differs from municipal accounting practices and should inform the Authority’s recommendation. Manager Edward C. Wagner and Ebert both described the staged sequence of reviews the Authority expects prior to DEP’s issuance of discharge standards.
The Authority did not take a vote on the Act 537 plan amendment at the June 8 meeting; members said they intend to review the forthcoming financial analysis at the July meeting before deciding whether to seek formal authorization from the Board of Commissioners.
