Water Supply Issues
For many years now there has been a problem with a lack of capacity in the East Cocalico Township Authority water system. Under normal rainfall conditions there is an adequate supply for the current needs. However, under drought conditions, as we have seen in several summers in the past decade, the supply becomes insufficient and water restrictions become necessary.
This lack of capacity has led the Authority to institute a ban on new connections to the system. This is significantly holding up the many new residential developments currently in review by the Township. This is also limiting the growth of business and industry.
The Authority has, in the last year or two, gone "full speed ahead" to try to get additional capacity for their system (new wells, a new pumping station). They are now only about a year away from bringing increased capacity to their system. Once that happens, the rate of new development in the Township will explode. Look for hundreds of new houses to be built in the Township over the next few years. The current state of the water system may be the only thing that has kept us from having to build new schools.
On a specific issue, the Board of Supervisors has been desperately trying to get the Benderson "Secret Shopping Center" project under way as soon as possible. This has included trying to get the Authority to allow ONLY this one developer the use of private wells so they don't have to wait for the water system upgrades. All other developers have been forced to wait for the system upgrades. At the September 14, 2006 East Cocalico Township Authority meeting, the Authority voted to reject the Supervisor's attempt to give this developer special treatment allowing them to start construction sooner by using their own wells. Subsequently, at the Board of Supervisors meeting on October 18, 2006 the Supervisors voted 2-1 to approve the developer-proposed amendments to the Zoning Ordinance, which included a provision to allow Benderson the use of private wells for their project. So much for fairness and equal treatment...