Doylestown Supervisors Can Controversial Sewer Project
from the Bucks County Herald (8/30/07)by Dana M. Eckman
In a surprising move, at the urging of Vice Chairman Tom Scarborough, the Doylestown Township Board of Supervisors have unanimously voted down their controversial plan to provide sewer service to 2,000 homes at a cost of $59 million.
But the plan that has some residents seeing red isn't going away. Scarborough, who became a vocal opponent of the plan after a meeting held two weeks ago that drew 900 people, with the majority against it, proposed the motion to reject it at the Aug. 21 meeting.
"It is clear to me that the public sewer project that was presented to us on Aug.7 makes no sense, economically or environmentally," he said.
Some of the crowd of about 30 residents applauded Scarborough's motion to kill the plan.
"I cannot and will not support this project as presented. But we're not turning our backs on people who have failing systems or contaminated water. That's not what this
is about."
Scarborough went on to say that the CB South presentation showed limited and iso- lated failed septic systems that may or may not have been repaired, adding that the data presented was insufficient to support the township's Public Water and Sewer Advisory Committee's proposal of the plan.
David Blois, sewer committee vice chairman, said he realizes that the committee has a lot of work ahead, but contended that the committee believed that the data it gathered adequately supported its recommendation for sewering, adding that resi-
dents' concerns haven't fallen on deaf ears.
"We heard the reaction and we're taking it seriously," he said.
Changes are necessary, Scarborough said. "Rather than force 2,000 residents to pay for a $59 million sewer project, we must explore other options, going neighborhood by neighborhood to solve this problem."
Scarborough, liaison to the sewer committee, suggested a four-pronged solution: Develop an education plan so that all residents know how to properly maintain their septic systems; Re-examine the septic management plan; Improve the township's communication with the Bucks County Board of Health; Expand the Sewer Study Committee to re-evaluate the situation in light of the outcome of the public hearing and report back to the board.
And they did just that, but not before the meeting got a little heated between supervisors and residents.
A few in the audience, accused Scarborough, a Republican running for re-election in the fall, of rejecting the multimillion dollar plan because he is running for office, an accusation he flatly denied.
"It's not about being Republican or Democrat," he said after the meeting. "It's about people doing the right thing for the residents of Doylestown Township."
However, supervisor Cynthia Philo said she believes Scarborough is less than sincere. "This is all about conflicts of interest," she said. "The township Board of Supervisors’solicitor is the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority solicitor. The engineer who did the township's study is the BCWSA engineer. Tom Scarborough's running mate this fall, Jeff Bennett, is a board member of the BCWSA."
"And their campaign has happily accepted money from BCWSA leadership. But when 900 people showed up to blast a plan that was concocted by a board that Tom Scarborough personally approved, he realized he had a big re-election problem and decided to grandstand. It's that simple. It was a shameless campaign performance and the voters shouldn't be fooled," Philo said.
Board members decided to expand the five-member sewer committee to 11 and redirected the committee to take a more extensive look at the whole project to determine what is necessary and what isn't necessary.
The committee will meet for that work session Sept 20.
But the plan that has some residents seeing red isn't going away. Scarborough, who became a vocal opponent of the plan after a meeting held two weeks ago that drew 900 people, with the majority against it, proposed the motion to reject it at the Aug. 21 meeting.
"It is clear to me that the public sewer project that was presented to us on Aug.7 makes no sense, economically or environmentally," he said.
Some of the crowd of about 30 residents applauded Scarborough's motion to kill the plan.
"I cannot and will not support this project as presented. But we're not turning our backs on people who have failing systems or contaminated water. That's not what this
is about."
Scarborough went on to say that the CB South presentation showed limited and iso- lated failed septic systems that may or may not have been repaired, adding that the data presented was insufficient to support the township's Public Water and Sewer Advisory Committee's proposal of the plan.
David Blois, sewer committee vice chairman, said he realizes that the committee has a lot of work ahead, but contended that the committee believed that the data it gathered adequately supported its recommendation for sewering, adding that resi-
dents' concerns haven't fallen on deaf ears.
"We heard the reaction and we're taking it seriously," he said.
Changes are necessary, Scarborough said. "Rather than force 2,000 residents to pay for a $59 million sewer project, we must explore other options, going neighborhood by neighborhood to solve this problem."
Scarborough, liaison to the sewer committee, suggested a four-pronged solution: Develop an education plan so that all residents know how to properly maintain their septic systems; Re-examine the septic management plan; Improve the township's communication with the Bucks County Board of Health; Expand the Sewer Study Committee to re-evaluate the situation in light of the outcome of the public hearing and report back to the board.
And they did just that, but not before the meeting got a little heated between supervisors and residents.
A few in the audience, accused Scarborough, a Republican running for re-election in the fall, of rejecting the multimillion dollar plan because he is running for office, an accusation he flatly denied.
"It's not about being Republican or Democrat," he said after the meeting. "It's about people doing the right thing for the residents of Doylestown Township."
However, supervisor Cynthia Philo said she believes Scarborough is less than sincere. "This is all about conflicts of interest," she said. "The township Board of Supervisors’solicitor is the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority solicitor. The engineer who did the township's study is the BCWSA engineer. Tom Scarborough's running mate this fall, Jeff Bennett, is a board member of the BCWSA."
"And their campaign has happily accepted money from BCWSA leadership. But when 900 people showed up to blast a plan that was concocted by a board that Tom Scarborough personally approved, he realized he had a big re-election problem and decided to grandstand. It's that simple. It was a shameless campaign performance and the voters shouldn't be fooled," Philo said.
Board members decided to expand the five-member sewer committee to 11 and redirected the committee to take a more extensive look at the whole project to determine what is necessary and what isn't necessary.
The committee will meet for that work session Sept 20.
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