Members of Blue Mountain Zendo, who live on Deere Lane in West Penn Township, are appealing the "cease and desist" order filed against them by the township's zoning officer last month.

They'll appeal the order before the township's zoning hearing board at 7 p.m. Nov. 6.Township solicitor Gretchen Stearns updated the supervisors on the matter during a meeting Monday night.Last month, several Deere Lane residents complained that the residents at 44 Deere Lane were using the residence as a house of worship. At that time, Stearns had told them that the notice of zoning violation had gone out on Sept. 12.According to the residents who attended the September meeting, Deere Lane is a deeded private drive, with all 11 residences along the road responsible for its upkeep. They said that the Blue Mountain Zendo brought an increase of traffic.According to the Schuylkill County parcel locator, the property at 44 Deere Lane is owned by Honey Badger Investors LLC, which purchased the three-bedroom, 2,400-square-foot residence in July 2014. The address for Honey Badger Investors is 3521 Country Club Road, Allentown.Joriki Baker, who lives at 44 Deere Lane, replied to a few questions last week via the contact form on the Blue Mountain Zendo website. She said that she is part of a small group of Zen monks and nuns who meet in her home for silent prayer and meditation on Sunday evenings."I am concerned with West Penn Township's demand for me, and my friends, to stop praying and meditating in the privacy of my own home," Baker said by email."I want what everyone else wants who lives in my area; peace, freedom and privacy."Budget discussedThe supervisors held their first budget meeting before the regular meeting.Some of the biggest monetary challenges discussed were the increase in health care costs for township employees, which will rise 34 percent, or from $33,000 to $45,000, according to James Dean, Vice Chairman James Dean.Dean said that the township is also in the midst of negotiating a new contract for the members of its road crew; there are three full-time employees and one part-time employee.The township is also considering the purchase of equipment for the road crew, such as a backhoe, truck and trailer.During the regular meeting, the supervisors discussed several items which will impact the 2015 budget, including the township's Act 537 Plan, which is the plan for how sewage will be handled in the townships.West Penn and Walker townships have formed an intermunicipal agreement to develop the plan, using Rettew Engineering.Rettew submitted the plan to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in December 2013, but DEP returned the submission as incomplete.Since then, Rettew has been working on fixing a checklist of corrections required by DEP, with most of them involving mapping.While Rettew has been working to correct the submission, the Walker Township supervisors have been expressing their concerns about the growing costs associated with the plan.According to the agreement, Walker Township is to pay 18 percent of the costs. In recent contact with West Penn, the township asked for a breakdown of the Rettew costs.During Monday's meeting, Stearns advised the supervisors to have Walker supervisors contact Rettew directly."It's the Rettew costs that are being questioned by Walker," Stearns said. "Let Rettew answer their questionsShe also said that the corrections need to be made in a timely manner, so that other test data in the plan doesn't become too dated for DEP to accept.Hearing that, the supervisors directed township secretary Bobbi Jo Muffley to call Rettew daily to check the status of the work.The next budget meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Oct. 27.