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below are excerpts from a few emails that i received over the weekend - none of this is from me, but i wanted to share it...
Hello All,
Today is a sad day for those of us that have enjoyed
accessing Marsh Creek from the Struble Trail and
Dorlan Mill Rd. Today I had the pleasure of meeting an
agent of the landowner just as he was putting the
finishing touches on a large metal/wire fence that now
completely blocks the park access from Dorlan Mill
road. Had I been about 30 minutes later I would have
most likely been blocked in.
I spoke to him briefly and here's what he had to say.
He was generally friendly and non-confrontational,
although he did not appears as though he was going to
speak to me until I engaged him first. I asked him
what was going on with the access, to which he replied
"the only access to the trails of Marsh Creek are at
the park entrance on Reeds or Chalfont roads".
I asked why and he said that "the landowner has been
denied access to develop this property so this
entrance and the struble trail entrance at the mill
are now closed until someone comes to their senses." I
said that's a shame, what can we do, etc. He said "the
landowner was only asking to build 20 houses on 40
acres, it's not like he was building Eagleview or
anything. I suggest if you want access and you vote,
then don't vote for the incumbent." After this he
didn't say anything else and returned to working on
the fence.
-------------
Apparently this guy (John Shelton) is a developer who is trying to hold park access from Dorlans Mill and the Struble Trail ransom to build his development. He is currently involved in a couple of court cases about tying into existing sewer lines (see below) and this is how he deals with the flack he is getting.
Developer locks horns with township officials
By JOHN ROSSOMANDO, Special to Tri County
04/10/2007
UWCHLAN - A private developer has locked horns with township officials over his claim that he has the right to connect to a sewer main that was constructed over township property during the 1970s and is partially located in neighboring Upper Uwchlan.
The dispute has forced township officials and developer John Shelton, president of Shryock Brothers Inc., to file legal claims and counterclaims, in their efforts to either force or inhibit that connection.
Currently, two cases involving the dispute stand before the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission and a third, brought by the township, is in front of Chester County Common Pleas Judge Jacqueline Cody.
Arguments stem from an easement placed across the property in 1977, when the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania contracted with the township to provide a 100,000 gallon-per-day sewer connection for Marsh Creek State Park.
Of that capacity, Uwchlan negotiated that it would take 50,000 gallons per day of that capacity, while leaving the other half under the state's control.
However, a disputed interpretation of that easement lies at the heart of the problem.
The township claims a 1985 agreement, establishing the Downingtown Area Regional Authority, limits the former Shryock paper mill to 1,000 gallons per day. The authority provides sewage disposal for Uwchlan, East Caln, the Borough of Downingtown and Caln.
Township Solicitor Guy Donatelli said the municipality believes that limitation was "set in amber."
The municipality's lawsuit against Shelton seeks to settle whether he can tie into the Marsh Creek sewer connection for his proposed development on his 44-acre tract and whether the 1,000-gallon limit still stands.
"I can't understand how we are bound by an agreement because DARA didn't exist in 1977, and Uwchlan joined DARA and arbitrarily put a limit on the amount of new sewage flows," Shelton said. "There is nothing in the easement that restricts the connection."
He contends his access to the sewer main is unlimited because Shryok, as a third party, is not bound by the DARA agreement, and consequently being forced to accept that limit is unfair.
Shelton said under a 2005 reallocation of wastewater capacity across the DARA municipalities, Uwchlan received a 60,000-gallon-per-day share of the system's total 300,000 gallon-per-day total capacity.
The developer claims the state park, on average year-round, uses an average of 4,000 gallons per day, although it doesn't use any of the capacity during the winter, which leaves enough capacity for its needs.
Shryock requested access to 19,650 gallons per day in mid-2005 and again at the end of 2005 to connect its property to the Marsh Creek sewer main, but that request was refused.
"Having been sued in a local court, we had to re-evaluate our legal position, and we, Shryock Brothers Inc., brought a PUC suit that is up for review in July 2006," Shelton said. "We are claiming that Uwchlan Township has been acting as a de facto public utility for over 20 years by providing direct sewer services for people outside their corporate limits, and they can only provide wastewater services to people in their community who have the ability to vote."
The PUC's jurisdiction, Shelton said, is narrower and uses a "less politically motivated interpretation of the law." Should the utility commission decide in Shryock's favor, it could theoretically order a connection.
The developer also seeks to have the commission declare that Uwchlan has collected illegal sewer rates, direct the reporting of all revenues collected since 2003, determine the amount of "illegal" rates collected in the same period and order a refund of those rates.
"A municipality providing public-utility services to customers outside its corporate limits must file with (the PUC), tariffs showing all the rates established by the municipality and charged to customers outside its municipal limits," Shryock's attorneys wrote in their PUC filing. "The township never applied for, nor has the commission ever granted, a certificate of public convenience to the township to provide sewer services outside the township's corporate limits."
This contention has also led Shelton to contest Hankin Group subsidiary Eagleview Environmental's application for PUC certification for the Eagleview sewage treatment plant.
The sewer plant also serves portions of the Eagleview Corporate Center on the Upper Uwchlan side of the development.
Although Hankin owns the plant, Shryock Brothers Inc. claims the township's stormwater management plan, filed with the state Department of Environmental Protection, establishes the township, not Hankin as the plant's "operator."
Shelton said the Board of Supervisors declined to take dedication of the Hankin plant earlier this year.
Donatelli said the township believes the Shryock and Hankin issues are unrelated.
"For years, DEP has allowed Eagleview Environ-mental to run the plan, and when the township wants to take dedication, it can do so," Donatelli said.
The Eagleview sewer plant issue could become a dead letter for Shryock, if the township decides not to fight DEP's March 7 order requiring the township to assume full ownership of the plant by May 15, 2007. The order also directs the township resurrect its municipal authority by July 17, 2007, to act as the plant's owner and operator.
Donatelli believes DEP's goal is to have all sewer plants municipally owned and operated.
Hankin Group and Upper Uwchlan officials could not be reached for comment.
Hello All,
Today is a sad day for those of us that have enjoyed
accessing Marsh Creek from the Struble Trail and
Dorlan Mill Rd. Today I had the pleasure of meeting an
agent of the landowner just as he was putting the
finishing touches on a large metal/wire fence that now
completely blocks the park access from Dorlan Mill
road. Had I been about 30 minutes later I would have
most likely been blocked in.
I spoke to him briefly and here's what he had to say.
He was generally friendly and non-confrontational,
although he did not appears as though he was going to
speak to me until I engaged him first. I asked him
what was going on with the access, to which he replied
"the only access to the trails of Marsh Creek are at
the park entrance on Reeds or Chalfont roads".
I asked why and he said that "the landowner has been
denied access to develop this property so this
entrance and the struble trail entrance at the mill
are now closed until someone comes to their senses." I
said that's a shame, what can we do, etc. He said "the
landowner was only asking to build 20 houses on 40
acres, it's not like he was building Eagleview or
anything. I suggest if you want access and you vote,
then don't vote for the incumbent." After this he
didn't say anything else and returned to working on
the fence.
-------------
Apparently this guy (John Shelton) is a developer who is trying to hold park access from Dorlans Mill and the Struble Trail ransom to build his development. He is currently involved in a couple of court cases about tying into existing sewer lines (see below) and this is how he deals with the flack he is getting.
Developer locks horns with township officials
By JOHN ROSSOMANDO, Special to Tri County
04/10/2007
UWCHLAN - A private developer has locked horns with township officials over his claim that he has the right to connect to a sewer main that was constructed over township property during the 1970s and is partially located in neighboring Upper Uwchlan.
The dispute has forced township officials and developer John Shelton, president of Shryock Brothers Inc., to file legal claims and counterclaims, in their efforts to either force or inhibit that connection.
Currently, two cases involving the dispute stand before the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission and a third, brought by the township, is in front of Chester County Common Pleas Judge Jacqueline Cody.
Arguments stem from an easement placed across the property in 1977, when the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania contracted with the township to provide a 100,000 gallon-per-day sewer connection for Marsh Creek State Park.
Of that capacity, Uwchlan negotiated that it would take 50,000 gallons per day of that capacity, while leaving the other half under the state's control.
However, a disputed interpretation of that easement lies at the heart of the problem.
The township claims a 1985 agreement, establishing the Downingtown Area Regional Authority, limits the former Shryock paper mill to 1,000 gallons per day. The authority provides sewage disposal for Uwchlan, East Caln, the Borough of Downingtown and Caln.
Township Solicitor Guy Donatelli said the municipality believes that limitation was "set in amber."
The municipality's lawsuit against Shelton seeks to settle whether he can tie into the Marsh Creek sewer connection for his proposed development on his 44-acre tract and whether the 1,000-gallon limit still stands.
"I can't understand how we are bound by an agreement because DARA didn't exist in 1977, and Uwchlan joined DARA and arbitrarily put a limit on the amount of new sewage flows," Shelton said. "There is nothing in the easement that restricts the connection."
He contends his access to the sewer main is unlimited because Shryok, as a third party, is not bound by the DARA agreement, and consequently being forced to accept that limit is unfair.
Shelton said under a 2005 reallocation of wastewater capacity across the DARA municipalities, Uwchlan received a 60,000-gallon-per-day share of the system's total 300,000 gallon-per-day total capacity.
The developer claims the state park, on average year-round, uses an average of 4,000 gallons per day, although it doesn't use any of the capacity during the winter, which leaves enough capacity for its needs.
Shryock requested access to 19,650 gallons per day in mid-2005 and again at the end of 2005 to connect its property to the Marsh Creek sewer main, but that request was refused.
"Having been sued in a local court, we had to re-evaluate our legal position, and we, Shryock Brothers Inc., brought a PUC suit that is up for review in July 2006," Shelton said. "We are claiming that Uwchlan Township has been acting as a de facto public utility for over 20 years by providing direct sewer services for people outside their corporate limits, and they can only provide wastewater services to people in their community who have the ability to vote."
The PUC's jurisdiction, Shelton said, is narrower and uses a "less politically motivated interpretation of the law." Should the utility commission decide in Shryock's favor, it could theoretically order a connection.
The developer also seeks to have the commission declare that Uwchlan has collected illegal sewer rates, direct the reporting of all revenues collected since 2003, determine the amount of "illegal" rates collected in the same period and order a refund of those rates.
"A municipality providing public-utility services to customers outside its corporate limits must file with (the PUC), tariffs showing all the rates established by the municipality and charged to customers outside its municipal limits," Shryock's attorneys wrote in their PUC filing. "The township never applied for, nor has the commission ever granted, a certificate of public convenience to the township to provide sewer services outside the township's corporate limits."
This contention has also led Shelton to contest Hankin Group subsidiary Eagleview Environmental's application for PUC certification for the Eagleview sewage treatment plant.
The sewer plant also serves portions of the Eagleview Corporate Center on the Upper Uwchlan side of the development.
Although Hankin owns the plant, Shryock Brothers Inc. claims the township's stormwater management plan, filed with the state Department of Environmental Protection, establishes the township, not Hankin as the plant's "operator."
Shelton said the Board of Supervisors declined to take dedication of the Hankin plant earlier this year.
Donatelli said the township believes the Shryock and Hankin issues are unrelated.
"For years, DEP has allowed Eagleview Environ-mental to run the plan, and when the township wants to take dedication, it can do so," Donatelli said.
The Eagleview sewer plant issue could become a dead letter for Shryock, if the township decides not to fight DEP's March 7 order requiring the township to assume full ownership of the plant by May 15, 2007. The order also directs the township resurrect its municipal authority by July 17, 2007, to act as the plant's owner and operator.
Donatelli believes DEP's goal is to have all sewer plants municipally owned and operated.
Hankin Group and Upper Uwchlan officials could not be reached for comment.
