According to an Upper Salford supervisor, for the past 14 years officials in the township have been collecting data, identifying sewage needs and working on a sewage facilities plan for the municipality. 

With a little over 3,000 total residents in the township, the fact that hundreds of them turned out on two separate occasions to hear the plan and voice their concerns hints that important details during the planning stages should have been better communicated to the public while the process was in progress.

Most often, residents are less concerned with the amount of time or work officials put into a plan.  They are concerned with the proposed results of the plan and how it affects them, their property and their municipality.  Whether it takes officials 14 months to do develop a great plan or 14 years to come with one that’s not so good, it’s the results that count.  The people deserve that and that’s why they elected you to represent them.

Act 537, passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1966, makes municipalities responsible for sewage facilities planning within their borders.  That includes failing on-site septic systems, overloaded municipal sewer systems and new land development.

As late as 1971 there was no mention of a need for a public sewer system in Upper Salford.  But, in the early 1980’s, when Montgomery County updated their ACT 537 Plan there were some existing problems noted in areas of Upper Salford Township and it was recommended that the municipality consider construction of a sewage treatment plant.

Now, township officials have dropped a bomb, in the form of their ACT 537 plan, and face the wrath of residents who will be forced to pay thousands of dollars up front (some estimates grow to five figures) to comply – not all residents, just those in designated areas.  That unexpected expense is slapping residents in the face at a time when our nation’s economy is still struggling.

Over the past month, supervisors hosted two meetings in order to present the plan to the public and listen to questions and concerns.  Soon, the 30-day public comment period will begin.  Attending the meetings and voicing your concerns was important.  But now residents need to follow up and put those questions and concerns in writing because that is what will hold official’s “feet to fire” when it counts most. 

According to supervisors, when Upper Salford submits the final plan to the Department of Environmental Resources (DEP), the written remarks will be part of it.  If you noticed, there were no DEP representatives at the informational meetings, so it is important to document your issues.

There are too many questions about the plan to let it proceed without satisfactory answers for those affected.  There are several short-term options that can be implemented while the plan is pinched and tweaked, more and better data collected, questions answered, and concerns are fully addressed – and this can be done while sources of help in the funding area are researched.

Let the supervisors and DEP officials know you are concerned and let’s hope it’s not too late.