At the East Allen Township Board of Supervisors meeting July 11, township Manager Brent Green reported he received a request from Allen Township to hold a joint public meeting on the revisions to the Jaindl-Watson plan for warehouses along Seemsville Road. Changes to the plan put stormwater facilities and the new Seemsville Road in East Allen Township.

Chairman Roger Unangst objected to the meeting.

“We don’t have any information, and we could be blindsided going into a public meeting if we don’t even have information on the plan,” he said. “We are not objecting to a meeting.”

Green will contact Allen Township’s manager and request additional information. No meeting date was discussed. Although a joint public meeting is proposed, East Allen has the right to a private session before a public meeting.

In other business, township Engineer James Milot discussed updates to the township’s 537 plan. Recently, the owner of property south of Silvercrest Road asked to be included in Bath Borough’s public sewer system. The area under consideration is just outside Bath’s existing service area.

Milot presented an estimated study cost that ranged from $40,000 to $60,000. He said the property owner in discussions with Bath indicated the sewer system had capacity to take on the additional customers and Bath would be willing to accommodate.

There is some question if a separate pumping station would be needed, but that engineering detail is part of the study. Milot believes an existing pump station near the Bath Borough municipal boundary is not large enough to handle additional sewer requirements. Options would be evaluated during the study.

The discharge from the Bath sewage system is under the watchful eye of the Delaware River Commission (DRC). The DRC has a mission to return the Delaware and all its tributaries (i.e., the Lehigh River) to Class A waters. The direction is similar to the action taken to preserve Chesapeake Bay by monitoring its watershed areas. The latter has proven to be a successful venture by some measurement standards.

According to Milot, there is a restriction in the DRC agreement that does not allow Bath to expand its sewage system beyond its existing boundaries. The additional coordination would add to the cost of the study.

Unangst expressed his concern and suggested the board word any agreement with the property owner carefully so that the township is not committed to providing sewer service.

Solicitor Joseph Piperato indicated he understood the intent of any agreement with the property owner.