Repeal of mandatory water ordinance in jeopardy
By PAT FRIDGEN Echo Pilot

The plan to repeal Antrim Township's mandatory water connection ordinance was tabled when a twist on the situation was explained June 26.

Utilities director Charles Goetz informed the supervisors that Victory Car Wash on John Wayne Drive, open since 2005, was using a well rather than public water. He said the Antrim Township Municipal Authority planned to back charge owner Charles Burcker for sewer rental because the water was not metered.

Goetz said the land development plan included public water. He reported that Burcker had requested a smaller tap line than the usual 2- inch as he told the Greencastle Franklin County Water Authority he would be using water recycling equipment.

Therefore, the car wash was billed at the homeowner rate of $115.50 per quarter, rather than $5000 per quarter as per a comparable business. The ATMA wanted Antrim Township to take enforcement action by requiring mandatory connection and using a meter as required by all non-residential customers.

Solicitor John Lisko noted that the owner was in a type of Catch- 22.

"He said he was connecting because we required it. Now we want to require it because he said he would do it. But we are considering repealing the ordinance."

The Catch-22 applied to Antrim Township as well.

If the township repealed the ordinance, funding could become an issue for improvements and expansion of the sewer treatment plant, Goetz said. To get bonding, a mandatory water connection ordinance was required. Should the township repeal it, the Authority would come back and ask for the same ordinance.

"The law is clear," said Lisko. "Everyone is required to connect, or no one."

Township manager Ben Thomas, Jr. asked the supervisors to table action.

"We need to review a lot more information. If repealed, will it harm the township?"

He wanted to know the true tap fees for the homeowners in the Hess Development and whether a payment plan could be established. The Hess residents were the cause of the possible ordinance appeal when the GAFCWA ran a line through the neighborhood to reach a new residential development. The ten affected homes already had private water and did not want to be forced to use public.

Penny Bemisderfer, one of the homeowners on a well, told the board, "We don't care about the hookup, just the fees."

The board decided to ask developer Dan Ryan to pay the fees for those hookups, and to continue to study the ramifications of the mandatory water connection ordinance.