Town and Country Newspaper

Local News Article

Richland Green Project on Hold

Written by Kelly Kalb, Correspondent
2012-03-29

Quakertown borough’s meeting on Monday evening began with a heated discussion regarding the release of sewer capacity to nine remaining homes in the Richland Greene Development, off Station Road. The development is home to 27 houses.

Attorney Krista Harper from Curtin and Heefner LLP in Doylestown expressed concerns over the delay in council’s decision to accept release of the sewer capacity which would use approximately 1,400-1,600 gallons of water per day for every seven homes.

Borough Manager Scott McElree stated that members of council are looking to “protect the borough and council itself from receiving any violations.”

Potential violations could equal citations from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection if Quakertown Borough would exceed its own sewer capacity.

Harper’s argument is of council’s “overly conservative approach” in the decision process for her clients, NVR Inc. Apparently, NVR has been forced to stop selling homes in Richland Greene because they “don’t think homeowners could flush toilets.”

Council believes this process needs further discussion and actions have been taken to move closer to a decision. A meeting is scheduled regarding this topic for April 2 with Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority (BCWSA) to then be discussed at the Quakertown borough council meeting on April 4.

Quakertown Borough does accept sewage from BCWSA which collects wastewater from Richland Township as well as Richlandtown Borough.

Attorney Harper argued that BCWSA is willing to release the capacity and expressed no concerns of going over their own capacity. However, council feels the borough is at increased risk and, if a decision is made to move forward, it opens up concern of other developers to push for more sewer capacity.

McElree said Tuesday that Quakertown has some capacity left but BCWSA has exceeded their capacity in the past. The borough has been over capacity in the past based on wet weather events.

Council President Jim Roberts also feels there needs to be further discussion on the matter before a final decision is made.

In lighter news, council also plans to discuss at the next meeting the proposed emergency operation plan as well as possible refinancing of the borough’s $8 million debt. Currently the $8 million loan is through PennVest and investigating is being done into a lower interest rate with several other banks before a decision is made.

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