Catharine Township Supervisors Consider Combining Ganister, Yellow Springs Projects

Over the last year, the Catharine Township supervisors have been discussing two major projects for the township, one connecting Ganister to the Williamsburg Authority sewer plant and the other pushing a sewer line out to Yellow Springs residents.

The supervisors, during the regular Feb. 25 township meeting, considered combining the two projects for better funding and for an increased chance of obtaining grants.

Dave Cunningham, the township engineer from Keller Engineers of Hollidaysburg, told the supervisors that combining the projects would “be too big of a product.”

The Ganister part, Cunningham said, “is a nice size for receiving Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding.”

Cunningham said that “combining projects may solve one problem, but might cause a slew of others.”

Currently, the costs for a Pa. Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) “Component 3M” project is an estimated $8,000.

According to the DEP, a “Component 3M” project is used when any of the following are proposed: 1) a subdivision served by sewage collection, conveyance or treatment facilities, 2) a tap-in to public sewers with flows on a lot of 2 Equivalent Dwelling Units (EDUs) or more, or 3) the construction or modification of wastewater collection, conveyance or treatment facilities that will require DEP to issue or modify a Clean Streams Law permit.

The Pa. DEP defines a “sewer extension” as the construction of a sewage collection system to serve more than one tap-in. Sewer lines that cross property lines are also sewer extensions. A “tap-in” is defined as a connection to an existing sewage collection system.

A few years ago, surveys were sent out to Ganister residents seeking information about the households to determine if the project qualifies for CDBG funding. The information provided on many of those surveys will expire soon, meaning it could not be used to obtain CDBG funding for the project.

Supervisors Chairman Heather Flaig made a motion to send out new surveys to all residents of the Ganister area. Supervisor Ken Brenneman seconded and the motion passed.

Regarding the ongoing local Baker vs. Barker sewer issue, the supervisors were sent a hearing notification. The supervisors were told that there was no need for them to attend. The hearing is about sale and tax liens on property.

Township Roadmaster Michael Fay said that the township used all the road salt that was purchased for this past winter. He asked Chairperson Flaig if she would contact Grannas about the price of getting another truckload in case of more winter weather.

Chairperson Flaig updated the township’s credit card policies and created a new policy and procedure manual/handbook that was given to the supervisors at meeting. Discussion and any changes will happen at next month’s meeting.