BY KEVIN WOODRUFF

Wyoming County Press Examiner

Tunkhannock Township supervisors voted on Monday night to advertise its Act 537 plan seeking to address sewer needs at Lake Carey for public review.

According to supervisor Veto Barziloski Jr., after receiving a draft of the plan at the Sept. 4 meeting, supervisors had a workshop with consultant Harleth Davis, and representatives from Milnes Engineering Co. on Sept. 18 to go over concerns and make adjustments to the plan.

Supervisors said that a legal notice will be placed in the Wednesday, Oct. 17, issue of the Wyoming County Press Examiner, outlining the timeline for public viewing, where to view the plan online or in person and how to submit public comment.

The plan will then be available online starting Wednesday, Oct. 17, on the Milnes Engineering website, along with at the Tunkhannock Township office off Route 92.

The vote to advertise the plan was unanimous, but supervisor Randy White disagreed with putting the plan on the Milnes Engineering website.

“I think it’s a conflict of interest having the plan on the Milnes site,” White said.

Supervisor Glenn “Ace” Shupp disagreed with him and said, “No it’s not, that’s who has been doing the plan.”

White also pointed out that he spoke to Lake Carey resident John Tidball who said he would like to see it posted on the Lake Carey Welfare Association (www.lakecareypa.com) website.

“I think it would be the right decision to have it on the Lake Carey website,” White said. “But I guess the decision has already been made.”

Shupp said he believed the plan should only be posted on one site, but he and Barziloski both said they had no problem with a link to the plan being put on the Lake Carey website.

Tidball asked supervisors if it will be the entire plan available online.

Shupp answered back and noted that it would be the “executive summary,” about 60 pages, available online. He said it would not include the maps and exhibits.

Shupp noted that it would be too expensive to post everything online, but did not have an exact monetary figure.

It was agreed that two complete copies of the plan, including the maps and exhibits, would be kept on hand for viewing by the public during business hours.

The public will also have the chance to purchase copies of the maps and exhibits.

Tidball thought that leaving the maps off the online report would negatively impact residents who don’t stay at the lake year-round.

“Come have a cup of tea on my porch tonight and see how many lights are not on at the lake,” Tidball said. “And how many taxpayers impacted by a potential $9 million project won’t be able to see these maps and give their input.”

Barziloski told Tidball that viewing the maps on a computer required special software that the average user would not have.

Later in the meeting Tidball also asked how long it would take for a member of the public to receive a copy of the map once requested.

Barziloski said that Open Records Law gives them between five and 30 days to produce copies, but that the township would make every possible arrangement to get them as quick as possible.

“We don’t have the necessary equipment here to make copies,” Barziloski said. “We have to have them made by Milnes. The maps are huge.”

Resident Minturn Smith spoke up and said he believed the maps could be reproduced at several places around the area.

However, Shupp said the plan was already decided.

“This is the way we’re doing it,” Shupp said. “We think it’s the fairest way.”

Also on Monday, a motion was passed to have all three supervisors sit on a recently created joint municipal authority with Lemon Township, specifically created to deal with sewer needs.

Supervisors agreed to decide the term length for each member by how long they had left on their term as supervisor.

Shupp will sit on the authority for one year, White for two years and Barziloski for three.

“This authority gives us the ability to work together with Lemon Township on sewer issues,” Barziloski said.

He noted that the voting power for each township will be 50 percent.

In other business, it was announced that the township has received flooding reimbursement flooding from Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

The township received two separate reimbursements, totaling $122,659.46, both for repairing roads.

Also on Monday, a motion was passed to appoint White, Lloyd Burton Sr. and Bev Burton to a committee that will make decisions about the newly installed Iroquois Trail.

In other matters, supervisors set a date for their first 2013 budget workshop. It will be held on Monday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. at the township building.

The next regularly scheduled meeting for the Tunkhannock Township supervisors will be Monday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m.