The Kennett Township supervisors voted Wednesday to have AECOM complete the first phase of its updated Act 537 wastewater treatment plan at a cost of no more than $56,000.
“We are in a collaborative process with Kennett Borough who is also updating their Act 537 plan,” said township Manager Eden Ratliff. “Phase 1 should take us well into next year.”
According to Kennett Township Public Works Director Theodore D. Otteni, both Kennett Township and the Borough “are working together to increase capacity at the wastewater treatment plant.”
Part of the Kennett Township sewage output is treated at the Kennett Borough wastewater treatment plant.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection oversees the Act 537 program and is requiring both municipalities to complete their individual plans before it approves a sewage treatment plant expansion, Otteni said in his report.
The ultimate goal is a joint Act 537 plan covering both Kennett Township and the borough that would be approved by both municipalities before being submitted to DEP, according to a letter from AECOM. The first phase would allow AECOM to study things like future sewage needs for both municipalities, prior planning, and existing conditions.
“The resulting information will enable both municipalities to consider prior planning, existing conditions, applicable land use documents, projected sewage needs, and preliminary alternatives to address the combined public sewage needs,” the letter read.
Every municipality is required to have an Act 537 plan that governs all sewage facilities as well as present and future sewage needs. According to the Pennsylvania DEP, “On January 24, 1966, the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act (Act 537) was enacted to address existing sewage disposal problems and prevent future problems … Act 537 requires proper planning of all types of sewage facilities, permitting of individual and community on-lot disposal systems, as well as uniform standards for designing OLDS.”
The borough is using Pennoni as the engineer to work on its Act 537 plan. Both municipalities approved having Carroll Engineering as a third-party engineer.
Once the first phase is completed by both municipalities, the second phase will spell out what needs to happen to expand the treatment plant, according to Otteni.
“Phase 2 is when you get into decision time,” said Ratliff.
About Monica Fragale
Monica Thompson Fragale is a freelance reporter who spent her life dreaming of being in the newspaper business. That dream came true after college when she started working at The Kennett Paper and, years later The Reporter newspaper in Lansdale and other dailies. She turned to non-profit work after her first daughter was born and spent the next 13 years in that field. But while you can take the girl out of journalism, you can’t take journalism out of the girl. Offers to freelance sparked the writing bug again started her fingers happily tapping away on the keyboard. Monica lives with her husband and two children in Kennett Square.
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