Eleven years and nearly $500,000 later, West Penn Township still doesn't have an approved sewage facilities plan.

During a meeting Monday, supervisors expressed their frustrations with the ongoing efforts, which began in 2003 with Ludgate Engineering, a firm which wrote a plan for an $11.5 million public system. In recent years the township hired Rettew Associates to redo the Act 537 plan and partnered with adjoining Walker Township. West Penn and Walker townships formed an intermunicipal agreement that requires Walker Township to pay 18 percent of costs, based on a needs analysis study.Engineer Ron Madison developed a plan which called for four service areas: South Tamaqua, Clamtown/Reynolds, Andreas and Snyders. The Rettew plan, with its combination of cluster systems and individual on-lot systems, came with a price tag of about $1 million.Madison submitted the plan in October 2013, but DEP returned it in December 2013, requiring a punchlist of 10 corrections before the agency would accept the plan as a complete submission and review it. The required corrections include updates of flood plain maps, wetland maps and archaeological studies. The current submission had used maps and studies which had been completed by Ludgate, which had become too dated to be accepted by DEP.The plan must also be reorganized with a rewrite which incorporates the elements of the Ludgate and Rettew plans. As submitted, elements of the two plans were cross-referenced in a manner which required the reader to flip back and forth from one section of the plan to another, which DEP did not find acceptable.Last month, Madison and representatives from Walker and West Penn townships met with DEP officials in Wilkes-Barre to get direction on what steps to take to move the plan forward. During Monday's meeting, Madison told the supervisors that accomplishing the corrections will cost $40,100 and take about five months."I'm listening to the people in this township, and they're frustrated," said Vice Chairman Jim Dean, who pointed out a history of plan addendums and additional costs. "Our goal is to have a completed and approved plan."Madison said that when the plan is resubmitted, the first step is to have it reviewed for completeness. If the plan is accepted as complete, it must still undergo a technical review process, he said."I can guarantee what we do," Madison said. "But I can't guarantee what DEP will do."The West Penn Township supervisors plan to set up a meeting with Walker Township supervisors to discuss the Act 537 Plan work.In other action, the board:Discussed the need to replace six culverts, including four on Andreas Road, one on Skyline Drive and one on Hickory Lane. They scheduled a workshop meeting for 6:30 p.m. May 19 to discuss the road work budget and prioritize the work.Hired Alfred Benesch & Co., Pottsville, for $18,000 to rewrite the township's comprehensive plan. The plan was written in 1985 and updated in 1992.Approved Police Chief Brian Johnson's request to hold a "CSI Camp" for third- to seventh-grade Tamaqua Area School District students from June 16-20 at the West Penn Township Annex building. Students will learn how to process a crime scene. Interested students should contact their high school principal or West Penn Township.