West Penn works on water extraction ordinance

A draft of the section of West Penn Township’s new zoning ordinance that deals with water extraction will soon be ready for the board of supervisors’ review.

Township solicitor Paul J. Datte said at Monday’s board meeting that the draft will be provided to the board before its next meeting, scheduled for 10 a.m. Feb. 17.

Ted Rosen, chairman of the West Penn Township Water Resource & Planning Steering Committee, said that was welcome news.

“It’s very good to hear that the draft water extraction ordinance is going to come out very soon,” Rosen said.

Afterward, Jay Land, president and owner of Ringgold Acquisition Group II, thanked the board and its predecessors “for the patience and time afforded to me over the past six years.

“I recognize that on a personal level, all who have sat in those chairs did not agree with my industry or me on many issues; I deeply respect the balance and impartiality displayed as you addressed those concerns as legislators or regulators under the laws of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I recognize many of you have faced ad hominem attacks from both sides in these discussions; as a result or your diligence and for my lapses, I apologize.”

Land, as a property owner and business owner in the township, then extended his appreciation “to the volunteers who worked so hard on the rezoning of the township.”

He noted how it was “a lot of hard work and required thousands of your hours to accomplish a task” they had not undertaken in 40 years.

Zoning history

Land then quoted from a land use appeal filed by Marc Fisher, esquire, in 2001, that on Oct. 1, the then zoning officer of West Penn Township granted a permit to construct a 12-by-12-foot Bulk Spring Water Load Facility as an accessory use to a principal use in the agricultural zone. He said that the zoning hearing board upheld the permit, and Fisher withdrew the appeal to the Common Pleas Court.

He said that from 2001 until 2016, there would be three additional approvals by the township.

“I point this out not to make a legal argument, but to dispel the often falsely disseminated story that this board has done nothing for five years,” Land said. “The fact is to the contrary.”

Land cited that the board on Dec. 5, 2015, adopted a water extraction ordinance after six months of public meetings; in 2017 adopted a well registration ordinance after several months of public hearings; has spent two years in committee meetings and an estimated $30,000 to $50,000 trying to advance a more comprehensive water ordinance; and has undertaken a zoning ordinance and comprehensive plan rewrite.

Further, he said that the board, has, over the past five years, “drawn upon more community input and accomplished more than we as a community have achieved in the prior 15 years.”

Land then addressed the Delaware River Basin Commission application submitted by Tower Springs in July to the DRBC, and said there are only two production wells on the property as shown in the application to the township in 2014 and the Federal Register; that there is no increase in capacity associated with the application; that his calculation is 75 trucks maximum; and that currently, there is no limit on what can be produced on the property daily.

“Tower Springs is well aware of its responsibilities in drought conditions,” he said. “I would like to thank the board and its staff and committee for all their work over the last five years.”

Land said his team has opened an email, jayjland@comcast.net, to help answer questions the community wishes to have answered, and that they will commit to answer those questions within seven days and provide a summary to the board at the end of each month.

New ordinance

Datte said last month that the township has revised water extraction provisions that are now in the ordinance, and that the regulations will be applicable to everyone, such as commercial water extractors, single family residential owners, farms, and so forth.

He said the township gave its recommendations to the water extraction attorney. Along with his recommendations, the board has taken the township’s engineer’s recommendations, along with the water extraction committee’s recommendations, and then have a draft to put into the township’s zoning ordinance.

From that point, Datte said the board will have another meeting on the recommendation of the water extraction attorney, and then will consider the ordinance for final adoption.

A copy of the proposed ordinance is available for review at the township building during regular business hours.

Curtin & Heefner LLP Attorneys at Law are reviewing the draft water extraction ordinance and assisting the township in determining the best options.

The West Penn Township Water Resource & Planning Steering Committee and planning commission recommended authorizing attorney Jordan Yeager’s firm and hydrogeologist Phil Getty to make revisions to the draft water extraction ordinance.

The committee recommended incorporating any use that results in more than 1,000 gallons per day, with considerations for multiple wells or developments on a particular property and sensitivity to the farm community.

The township should also consider truck traffic and use, and costs and fees to the township.