By Stephen Smoot
Last Friday afternoon, the Town of Franklin held the first of two legally mandated meetings concerning an application for a Community Development Block Grant. In attendance were Frank Wehrle, Town of Franklin administrator, Kim Ruddle representing Region 8, and no one else.
Wehrle opened the meeting by announcing that “the Town of Franklin has been pursuing funds for a sewer project” and related that pursuit thus far has not been entirely successful. An unexpected development occurred, however, as a new requirement emerged for plans to be submitted as part of the application process.
Wehrle explained that in the past, grants paid for a planning process. The town will “have to now get a CDBG planning grant to fund the development of the plan,” which means that the town must first apply for a grant for over $400,000 to cover the cost of planning.
Ruddle explained that the grant would pay for “development of the plan, specs, cost estimates.” Wehrle added that “once it takes into consideration all the bells and whistles,” then “it gets us to where we can go to bid.”
Region 8 will perform administrative duties in its role with the process.
During the past two years, the Town of Franklin has worked to stay ahead of federal regulations and state enforcement of such. A lagoon system processes waste efficiently in many ways, but as time passes, it leaves the town vulnerable to regulatory problems. Wehrle said, “Ammonia level is a consistent problem.”
Additionally, regulatory changes may force the Town of Franklin to lower phosphorus levels in its issue. Currently, regulations do not address that, but the Chesapeake Bay region may soon impose those.
Wehrle explained that the town has decided to pursue the option that gives the most flexibility in the future. A “package plant” comes in modular form. What the town will obtain first will help to address issues with ammonia. If regulations concerning phosphorus arise, the town can add a module to the proposed package plant without much problem.
“The DEP has specifically mentioned phosphorous in the past,” he explained, stating that “no one limits that, but it is one of the most likely substances to next fall under regulation.”
Another major issue emerged in the water system with plastic pipes from three and four decades ago splitting for multiple feet up seams. Leaks have come as a result and the town “is looking at trying to get funding for that.”
Ruddle warned that “money is not as forward as it has been.”
Wehrle then shared that the council has heard concerns in the past few months and has worked to make changes, especially that it “wishes to be more forward thinking” and incorporate more input from the community.
A second legally required CDBG meeting will take place later this month at 6 p.m. on Feb. 20. Wehrle stated that when two meetings are required, the town will try to schedule in different times of the day to accommodate different work and life schedules.
A different meeting was scheduled for Tuesday at the Seneca Rocks Regional Development Authority Innovation Hub to “build a shared vision for the Town of Franklin.” Headed up by Mon Forest Towns working in partnership with the Town of Franklin, this serves as the second of three community meetings, the first held last November.
The Town of Franklin will welcome the Thrasher Group at 6 p.m. on Monday to discuss in-town flooding issues that repeatedly afflicted residents and Pendleton Senior and Family Services last spring and summer.
“The presentation will explore implementation ideas, stormwater treatment concepts, and local watershed protection,” stated a release about the meeting.
