More than four dozen North Whitehall residents gathered at the township building Dec. 9 for a special supervisors hearing on a proposed wastewater sewage facility to be constructed at the former Strawberry Acres Orchard.

Attorney Peter Lehr, of Norris McLaughlin and Frederick Ebert, president of Ebert Engineering Inc., attended the hearing as representatives of Piyush Patel, owner of the development group 5077 Overlook Road LLC and the Strawberry Acres property.

They presented evidence and testimony seeking conditional use approval for the proposed treatment plant.

Lehr said in his opening statement the applicant should be entitled to the conditional use.

“In reviewing your zoning ordinance, it does not appear that there are any specific criteria for sewage plants in the zoning ordinance,” Lehr said. “Therefore, the application must be granted under Pennsylvania law unless the objectors present sufficient evidence that such a use would pose a substantial threat to the community.”

Ebert, whose firm specializes in wastewater design, provided information on the plant.

The facility is designed to process more than 24,000 gallons of wastewater per day from a proposed active adult residential community consisting of 89 housing units, a caretaker home and a community center.

The treated wastewater would be discharged into Fells Creek.

Ebert noted the plant would be managed by the Lehigh County Authority and would be constructed in accordance with its standards. “It will be reviewed and approved by them, it will be inspected by them … it will then be offered for dedication, owned and operated by the Lehigh County Authority,” Ebert said.

Ebert also sought to address residents’ concerns about noise and odor. He noted how the plant’s blowers and backup generator would be encased in sound-dampening enclosures to reduce noise and stated the control building would be oriented away from residents, and that evergreen trees would be planted as additional sound buffers.

As for odors, Ebert pointed out the plant’s gravity collection system would prevent much of the wastewater from sitting in detention, becoming septic and producing bad smells.

He also said the plant’s sludge would be regularly trucked off-site to a municipal facility for treatment to cut down on odors.

Ebert concluded by saying the proposed conditional use complied with all zoning regulations, ordinances, state and federal laws, served the purpose of the planned development, would not add a significant traffic burden to the area or pose any substantial threat to public safety or health.

Several residents, however, opposed to the facility’s conditional use proposal, rejecting Ebert’s notion the treatment facility would be in keeping with the character of Strawberry Acres and the surrounding area.

Noise and odors continued to be highlighted by numerous residents as major issues despite Ebert’s described mitigation strategies.

Additionally, residents also questioned Ebert and raised concerns including potential chemical runoff, flooding risks, groundwater contamination, possible plant expansion, and LCA’s financial stability and suitability to run the plant, among other topics.

Al Vassallo, a resident of Overlook Road near the proposed discharge pipe, wanted to know what the outflow pipe would look like and how the facility’s discharge would affect Fells Creek, as he was concerned about how the water could affect his home.

He told Ebert that the designers and developer needed to conduct a complete study of the waterway and take proper precautions.

“You believe that it can handle all the water you’re going to shove into it?” Vassallo asked.

“Did they do a study on the creek and how much it can handle before it ends up in my basement?

“Because I can tell you, it ends up in my basement.”

Dan Nemeth, a Clearview Road resident, asked why the wastewater facility had to be so close to other residents.

“Was there any consideration ever given, in order to be a good neighbor, to position that plant further away from the population that’s close by?

“Given all that Mr. Patel owns, and that’s on the record, there were far better sites within all the property he owns,” Nemeth stated. “Who determined where that plant should be?”

In their closing comments several residents urged the board of supervisors to reject the developer’s application.

Resident Tom Vanvreede pointed to numerous alleged discrepancies and misstatements in the answers on the application for the conditional use permit.

“I am requesting the township reject the proposal tonight to give time for the entity involved to go back and fix those corrections so that you have a document that is not substandard when it comes to approval,” Vanvreede said, noting differences in descriptions of the Strawberry Acres property and acreage, missing descriptions for existing water and sewage facilities on the property, and misleading characterizations of surrounding properties.

“For all these issues combined, this is a very substandard application,” Vanvreede concluded. “This is something that the township has to think about, what standard of quality are they looking for … not only in this decision, but don’t set a standard of accepting bad information and nonquality information in your future decisions.”

Nemeth agreed with Vanvreede, that the developer’s plans were not keeping with the spirit and intentions of local residents. “There’s a whole bunch of stuff that they do follow, but aren’t really good neighbors, in my opinion,” Nemeth said.

Nemeth said supervisors should follow the will of the people, noting that according to a recent referendum 90 percent of North Whitehall residents agreed to be taxed to preserve farmland, not the sites of future development.

“This will be such an oxymoron if this even gets passed and then to have the audacity to tax me for farmland,” he told supervisors.

“I hope you consider that a.) they tighten up their application and b.) you now have the chance to say ‘no way’ based on the joint planning commission, the will of the people, and North Whitehall Township’s way of doing business.”

Due to inclement weather on Dec. 16, the hearing is scheduled to continue 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 30.