W. Penn tables water action

West Penn Township has agreed to table its current water well ordinance and re-enact its old one for the time being.

The township’s board of supervisors voted 2-0 Monday morning to wait until several technicalities are worked out. Board Chairman Jim Dean was absent.

Before the vote, supervisors discussed issues such as the fee, application and wellhead tags.

Supervisor Tony Prudenti said he believed the board should amend the well ordinance and said that they don’t need the tags.

Prudenti also said he believes the township should charge a $50 fee.

Supervisor Ted Bogosh said he would like to take a look at all the other application paperwork and fees.

Ultimately, supervisors decided to table the current ordinance and re-enact the old ordinance so as not to prevent those who wish to drill a new well in the township from doing so.

Last month, supervisors made it mandatory that anyone wishing to drill a new well in the township would have to get a permit from township officials.

At that time, supervisors on a 2-1 vote, with Bogosh opposed, adopted a water well ordinance.

Bogosh said he was opposed to the ordinance because he believed it will result in an expense for the township, as well as homeowners.

After that meeting, board solicitor Holly Heintzelman said that since it is a new ordinance, anyone wishing to drill a new well will have to come in to the township and get a permit.

Heintzelman said there is a fee for the permit, which will be established by supervisors, as well as some minimal administrative costs to the township for the well permit program.

The sentence, “In the event the Sewage Enforcement Officer determines that the well is agricultural and therefore regulated by the Department of Environmental Resources and/or the Department of Agriculture, no further action is required under the within ordinance” was added to a section of the ordinance titled Application For and Issuance or Denial of a Permit.

In September, supervisors agreed to form the West Penn Township Water Resource and Planning Steering Committee to refresh its water extraction ordinance at the suggestion of Prudenti.

He noted that water extraction has been a major issue, and he wants to update the township’s ordinance.

Prudenti has said on multiple occasions that the township has to look at protecting residents’ wells, eliminating truck traffic and saving roads.