An ordinance that would set the weight restrictions on vehicles on specified roads in West Penn Township has stalled, pending a meeting with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

That's after the township's board of supervisors on Monday tabled the adoption of an ordinance that would prohibit vehicles with a gross weight in excess of 15 tons upon any paved portion of Kepners Road, Blue Mountain Drive, Dorset Road and Retreat Road.The ordinance would likely affect a proposed West Penn water extraction operation to be located off Blue Mountain Drive.At a special meeting in May, supervisors on a 2-1 vote authorized Alfred Benesch & Company, the township's engineering firm, to complete a traffic study and agreed to post the roads with weight restrictions.That action came after township solicitor Holly Heintzelman addressed the issue with supervisors on whether the township can prohibit truck traffic on Blue Mountain Drive.Jay Land, president and owner of Ringgold Acquisition Group II LLC, attended the meeting Monday.Land's company is a partner in MC Resource Development, which is embroiled in a lawsuit over water extraction.Attorney Ronald Corkery, who represents a retired farmer, questioned why the ordinance focuses on just those four roads and no others in the township.On Jan. 13, a group of residents filed a lawsuit in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia County against businesses and people associated with water extraction operations in the township. The lawsuit was filed by 30 plaintiffs who live near a pair of water extraction sites, according to their attorney, John Kotsatos, of the Law Offices of John E. Kotsatos in Easton.At the center of the lawsuit is the water extraction site at the intersection of Kepners Road and Blue Mountain Drive, and a newer water extraction site being erected at 1 Fort Franklin Road.Corkery said that the operation has been going on for the past 15-20 years, and questioned why these particular roads were picked.Land said the action requires both a road study and traffic study, and that he doesn't believe a traffic study was done on all four roads.The board wanted to adopt an ordinance similar to that of neighboring East Penn Township to prohibit truck traffic, but Heintzelman said at that time East Penn's ordinance appears to ban truck traffic with a gross weight in excess of 20,000 pounds, but said the township is authorized to issue permits in accordance with the Pennsylvania Code, and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.Even with a weight limit, Heintzelman said the township would still have to issue permits. The township may prohibit the operation of vehicles on a highway or bridge whenever it determines that hazardous traffic conditions or other safety factors require it.It appears that the township may not refuse to issue a permit if there is no reasonable route available, she said.Heintzelman said to impose a weight restriction on a highway or bridge, an engineering and traffic study must determine that the highway or bridge may be damaged or destroyed unless restrictions are placed.She said Alfred Benesch & Company, the township's engineering firm, has performed a road structure engineering study with regard to Kepners Road, Blue Mountain Drive, Dorset Road and Retreat Road, and that Benesch's recommendation is that a 15-ton weight limit should be placed on all four roads.The ordinance provides exemptions for local traffic; provides for the issuance of permits; provides for the posting of security for the movement of vehicles of a weight in excess of the restrictions; and prescribes penalties for violations.Resident Allison McArdle told the board she believes it made the right call in tabling the matter for the time being.