The Maxatawny Township supervisors discussed during their July 13 meeting a proposed ordinance that would prevent Kutztown Borough police from patrolling and making arrests in Maxatawny Township.
Maxatawny Township Solicitor Jill Nagy explained that the ordinance proposal was prompted “due to the threat of arrest when Maxatawny attempted to reach its sewage treatment facility.”
“I believe Maxatawny was appalled that Kutztown would make such a threat to a neighbor when all the township seeks to do is reach a treatment facility that was paid for by Maxatawny and, based upon recent DEP decisions, is Maxatawny’s sole responsibility. That statement came on the heels of Kutztown Borough learning it had sued the wrong party in a lawsuit and was forced to withdraw its objections to Maxatawny’s construction of an independent sewer line,” said Nagy.
In 2010, Maxatawny Township and Kutztown Borough had signed an agreement to provide for Maxatawny’s financing and construction of the facility serving the Saucony Creek Valley, capable of treating about 140,000 gallons per day. The facility was built on five acres provided by Kutztown Borough along Saucony Creek north of the borough off Route 737.
The agreement has since been dissolved.
Maxatawny Township Manager Justin Yaich explained in a January 2016 Patriot article that Maxatawny withdrew from the SCRA agreement in October of 2012. At that time, the township made the borough an offer in writing, saying if the borough let Maxatawny flow through the sewer main, the borough would receive the appraised value of the land that Maxatawny used, the township would continue to pay transportation fees and Maxatawny would waive all future permits that the borough might need when doing work on land it owns in Maxatawny Township.
“Over a year passed and we never heard another word from Kutzown until they filed a lawsuit against us in December of 2013,” said Yaich.
The ongoing legal battle between Kutztown and Maxatawny regarding the Saucony Creek Regional Authority continues.
More recently in November 2015, Kutztown Borough appealed a water quality management permit issued by the Department of Environmental Protection to Maxatawny Township for an alternative sewer line around Kutztown Borough.
According to Nagy, the Maxatawny Township ordinance proposed on July 13 pertains to the extraterritorial patrolling and arrest powers granted to Kutztown Borough’s police department.
“There is a uniform police act where in an emergency they may supplement the state police wherever they are needed so they always will be back up. If they break it, from a non-emergency standpoint, the question would be if the arrest would be valid.”
“The township has an obligation to its employees to ensure that contractors, employees and other agents do not have to fear going to work each day,” said Nagy about the ordinance. “Based upon comments in the audience at the meeting last week (July 13), it appears that Kutztown’s police make calls within the township regularly outside the scope of this ordinance, so it would not appear that the ordinance is needed anyway.”
Nagy noted that the ordinance was advertised some time ago but an article in a local paper drew attention to it.
Kutztown Borough Manager Gabriel Khalife said Kutztown Borough police officers do not patrol Maxatawny Township, and when asked if Kutztown Borough put any restrictions on Maxatawny regarding the sewage treatment plant, specifically denying Maxatawny contractors access, he replied, “No.”
Khalife said he did not receive a copy of Maxatawny’s proposal to review or comment on.
“Chief Summers and the KPD’s first priority is to serve the residents of Kutztown Borough, but they have responded on several occasions to incidents in the township in conjunction with the state police and/or until the state police arrive,” said Khalife. “The KPD, to an officer, are committed to their law enforcement oath, and I am confident that Maxatawny would not deny their residents assistance when in need.”
Khalife said that KPD does patrol land owned by the borough in Maxatawny Township “for the sole purpose of the protection of natural resources and assets owned and operated by the borough, that are vital to all in addition to recreation enjoyed by the attending youth and public.”
In addition, Khalife said, “KPD has an excellent working relationship with the Kutztown University public safety force.”
Kutztown Borough police Chief Craig Summers said he “believes the township is embroiled in civil litigation with the borough and now the township is making public safety an issue when it has nothing to do with the issue they are litigating.”
Summers said the borough owns several tracts of land in Maxatawny Township, which include not only the sewer treatment plant but a water filtration plant and electric substation, “critical infrastructure that KPD patrols regularly.”
He said KPD has responded to calls in Maxatawny on a fairly regular basis when state police are “too far away or otherwise tied up, we respond to those calls at PSP’s request.”
“I don’t know what their average response time is for calls in Maxatawny Township, but I can tell you it’s generally always going to be longer than KPD’s,” said Summers.
The Maxatawny Township supervisors tabled the vote and plan to discuss the proposed ordinance at a future meeting.
