DUBOIS – On Monday night, the Sandy Township Supervisors conducted a public hearing to discuss the 2019 Community Development Block Grant.
The township has been allocated a total of $156,959 in CDBG funding with 18 percent, or $28,252, designated for administrative purposes.
Currently, the supervisors plan to use the remaining funds, totaling $128,707, towards costs related to the Platt Road Sanitary Sewer Extension.
Next year the supervisors also plan to apply for 2020 CDBG funding, as well as other grants to help cover the sewer project’s costs.
During the hearing, Joel, Russell and Melissa Keen expressed their concerns to the supervisors. Joel and Russell Keen own a trailer park along Platt Road, which currently uses septic tanks.
While CDBG funding is available to help low- to moderate-income residents, the Keen’s were concerned over their renters being forced to hook onto the sewer system and it raising their cost of living.
Because their renters are low- to moderate-income and would become responsible for a sewer bill, the Keen’s believed they would be forced to move out of their homes in the trailer park.
From their viewpoint, the Keen’s said it appeared the township favored the project developer over its citizens. In the 60’s, they said their father learned a sewer line would be constructed in five years.
This, the Keen’s said, caused them to postpone plans to purchase land to construct their own sewage treatment facility. Now they said sewer lines would be constructed and their renters couldn’t even afford it.
Township Manager Shawn Arbaugh and Supervisor Dave Sylvis explained that the project was approved this time, because Platt Road was a sewage problem area.
According to Arbaugh, the system’s failure rate was 42 percent in this area. This, he said, resulted in the presence of E. Coli and fecal material in the water wells in the region.
“Groundwater can be contaminated for up to a half-mile from the malfunction site,” Arbaugh said.
The supervisors also noted that it would be a few years before the project is under way, and there would be plenty of time to further discuss it.
Also, Supervisor Mark Sullivan spoke on behalf of committee in charge of the evaluation of the Sandy Township Municipal Building. He said the possibility of having it renovated was “off the table.”
He said committee members have switched focus to determine the type of building to construct, and DuBois City’s suggestion of a regional municipal building is under consideration.
Sullivan said a regional building would have the potential to not only house city and township offices, but county- and state-level offices as well.