Strides continue to be made on the West Penn Township-Walker Township Act 537 sewage facilities plan.

Bill Varano, co-chairman of the West Penn/Walker Township Joint Sewer Committee, discussed the status of the plan with Walker Township supervisors Thursday.Varano said the state Department of Environmental Protection is pushing for the townships to put in small community systems.In the meantime, Varano said the townships need to get their paperwork for the plan straight and properly submitted to DEP.He said Rettew Associates, the engineering firm developing the plan, is refining the plan and making it easier to read."Everything is finally on track," Varano said. "DEP is wanting to get it done, and so are the townships."At a joint public meeting in January, both Walker's and West Penn Township's boards of supervisors tabled resolutions for revisions to their Act 537 plan.The boards requested a meeting with DEP and the West Penn/Walker Township Joint Sewer Committee, and to discuss a time extension with DEP.Engineer Charles Myers of Rettew Associates outlined three options at the joint meeting.One option is a community on-lot disposal system to each of the five areas at a cost of over $1 million. The costs would include the five systems, legal fees, engineering fees, and property acquisition, as well as several contingencies.A second option is for multiple treatment plants to serve the five areas, which would cost substantially more.Another option is an on-lot disposal system, where the 30 residences would either repair or replace their current system. Myers said at that time that was the preferred option, because there are no big infrastructure costs.Walker Township engineer Dave Horst said there were 30 units, 24 in West Penn, and six in Walker, that the plan identifies as potentially needing a community on-lot sewage disposal.Horst said of the units in West Penn, 12 are in South Tamaqua, six in Andreas, four in Clamtown, and two in Snyders; while the remaining six are in Reynolds in Walker.Contacted Friday, Myers said the preferred option remains an on-lot disposal system, where the 30 residences would either repair or replace their current system."They (DEP) want a solution presented in the 537 plan for every user, so if there are any users that cannot do on-lot, then you have to have a community system of some sort," Myers said. "The goal of it is to address the sewer needs of the (Walker and West Penn) municipalities."Myers explained the next course of action."We're touching up the 537 plan," he said. "We need to verify we're done, and once we've got that done, we will bring it back to the townships for their approval."Myers said he anticipates approval from both townships in April.Work on the West Penn Act 537 plan has been ongoing since 2003, when Ludgate Engineering Firm developed a community sewage plan with a $17 million price tag.On Oct. 18, 2013, DEP received the updated plan prepared by Rettew Associates Inc., and incorporated the Ludgate Engineering Corporation's March 5, 2007, submission.The plan proposed a sewage management program for each municipality, and corrective cluster or small community on-lot sewage disposal facilities, but DEP kicked it back as incomplete.Rettew Associates revised the plan and resubmitted it in November 2014, then West Penn Township solicitor Gretchen Stearns said. Typically, DEP responds in about two months, she said.After time elapsed, she contacted DEP and was told that the plan had been misplaced. Rettew resubmitted the plan.Other actionAlso on Thursday, supervisors, on a 2-0 vote, with Supervisor Craig Wagner absent:• Hired Colby Chinchar as a part-time non-CDL heavy equipment operator at $13.50 an hour.• Approved the purchase of a 1991 military dump vehicle at a cost not to exceed $5,000.