Mumau followed up on that and asked about subdivision residents who are under their own, as Hubbard illustrated, and wanted to put on an addition etc. Whaley said that any new building permits, even within a subdivision that had its own plan as a development, would still have to provide information that they would have the run-off under control and kept on the lot.

Whaley said if a person had a larger amount of land and wanted to add on, the run-off would be reduced but, if a person has a smaller lot and wanted a paved driveway, addition, house, etc., the property owner would be “in deep trouble. It's gonna be expensive. It's gonna take time. It's gonna be engineered....”

He further expressed that the extra cost had been calculated at 4%. He did not agree with this number and again emphasized his apprehension over the whole deal. He said in his opinion, the 4% figure might be for a larger construction area with a lot of land. He said again that it's going to get very expensive to build a home on a smaller lot.

“I personally believe that it is going to drastically reduce the citizens, anywhere, on a small lot of being able to build on their lot. And DEP came right out and said they don't care. 'Whatever it costs, you want to build a house that's what you have to do.'” He said they simply don't care.

When asked by a resident in attendance, “Is the reason why there hasn't been an outcry over this until now because nobody knew about it, and it hasn't been enforced?” Whaley said that was correct.

“Yes. The laws were written years ago. Nothing was ever done about it. DEP fell asleep on it. Harrisburg fell asleep on it. Now there are deadlines. Now DEP has been charged with catching up. Now, the cart and the horse are out of the barn, the barn is burning down and all of a sudden, this is being shoved down our throats, like a lot of other stuff from the government...This is a concentrated effort down to the single family dwelling level.”

He went on further to say that, in his opinion, commercial construction could afford it because they are used to dealing with this kind of thing on a larger scale.

Whaley added that for a family or person trying to fulfill a dream of having a home on a smaller lot or, adding on to a current structure, it just became a lot more difficult and costly.

For some clarification a question was asked about adding more gravel or stones to a driveway. Whaley said that if the driveway currently has the gravel, then no problem. But, if it were to be paved, then a person would have to leap through the above mentioned hoops in terms of the permit, storm water plan etc.

The DEP, HRG Engineering and County Planning are assuming that the area zoning officers are going to be taking on the responsibility.

Zoning Officer Paul Roiz had a few words to add as well, and said that they, (the officers), will have to chase people pretty much.

Roiz continued to say that the state originally intended to have training but now there isn't enough money to do so.

He said they've had some meetings about this over the years and everyone in attendance had expressed that it was a bad law and needed fixed. He also stated that up until now, they had pulled back on enforcing it but now are moving full speed ahead.

Soils were discussed as well because the soils in northwest Pennsylvania, are different than anywhere else in the state. Whaley said they did not take that into account though when writing the law. “DEP again said, 'we don't care, it's the law.'”

Some local engineers had asked for more time in order to find different ways to come to the same conclusion, and were given until April to submit the proposals. Whaley said if the plans included exemptions, or not implementing it in some way, it would not be accepted. “They are pretty much closed minded.”

Whaley said he's all for protecting the water supply but mentioned there had to be other ways to do it “without telling us we can't build on our own property unless we spend a fortune.”

Roiz said that this legislation was born and put into action on the eastern portion of the state, near Philly, and south thereof, where there are drainage issues galore. “That's the big push for it but of course now, they're pushing it down our throats...”

He continued by saying that the engineers had brought up the soil differences in this area as compared to the Philadelphia region in question. They had imparted that this region has high clay content. Because of this, the soil doesn't percolate the same way. He said their solution was to dig up the clay and replace it with other soils. He too said it would be totally expensive to follow through with that course of action, but added that they simply don't care.

Although Whaley was the “spokesperson” of this news, the other supervisors, Kevin VanHonk and Don Ellis, did quite a bit of nodding and agreeing, as did the road master and the zoning officer.

Whaley again expressed that the citizens need to be made aware of what government officials are doing, and he encourages all residents to come to meetings and gather as much information as possible.