Eldred Township residents refer to Kunkletown as a "sleepy little village."

But that all changed in the spring 2015 whenNestle Waters moved into Eldred Township.After a protracted battle between Nestle Waters and the residents, Kunkletown's water is safe and a revised ordinance has been adopted to make sure that it doesn't happen again.Eldred Township's water extraction zoning had been revised to permit commercial water extraction in the light industrial zone, making it possible for Nestle to monitor Chestnut Spring as a potential water source.Nestle, under the product name Deer Park, set up an office in the community center.Residents began to pack township meetings, which were moved to the local volunteer fire company to accommodate the crowd.On Dec. 31, 2015, Nestle filed an application with the zoning hearing board for a special exception permit to build a holding facility and extract up to 200,000 gallons of ground water daily.The nonprofit group "Concerned Citizens of Eldred Township" was formed and began to raise money for attorney fees. Residents with property located adjacent to or near the extraction point filed as objectors and entered their appearance before the board.The township's planning commission spent hundreds of volunteer hours pouring over the applications and drafting responses on the matter.News outlets worldwide reported about the battle brewing in Kunkletown. A documentary on the township's fight was featured on Al-Jazeera's U.S. network.A number of residents filed a suit against the township, claiming that the ordinance had been changed fraudulently. The board of supervisors had changed with the first of the year and the new board agreed to not defend the resident's lawsuit.A few months later, embattled board secretary Sharon Solt resigned her position.The matter never made it to court because Nestle announced in June that it was withdrawing its application.The statement from Nestle said that "community sentiment" was a consideration in its site selection process."There is no better taste than a triumph of David and Goliath proportion," said planning commission member Robert Boileau. "I was fortunate to work with a group of motivated and passionate individuals to effect positive change. I did not think that anything good could come from this ordeal - but it did. It brought our small community together to fight for a common goal."The township spent almost $100,000 in legal and engineering fees to put on the public hearings, review the application and get counsel on the various legal aspects of the matter.Nestle spent money on office space, land leases, drilling eight test wells and sealing them, running drawdown tests, preparing the application, site development plans, engineering and legal fees.Gary Hoffman served on the planning board initially and later was appointed to replace Solt."Do we really know the true story of it all?" Hoffman asked. "I don't think it really matters at this point. What we should've learned is to keep one eye focused on our surroundings and what goes on around us."Most residents feel that more good than bad came out of the situation."Our little town united, neighbors who never took the time to talk to one another got to meet each other and form lasting bonds," said township resident and organizer Donna Deihl. "There was a new sense of unity, of pride. I even met a relative in the area I didn't know was here, and we have become great friends."But Deihl adds that scars run deep."Our town is also still broken," she says. "It will take time for all of this to heal, but I know that way more good than bad came out of this. And we are so lucky that this ended the way it did. It could have been much worse."