Walker Township has agreed to advance its revised sewage facilities plan to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

By a unanimous measure, the township's board of supervisors on Thursday adopted a resolution for its Act 537 plan submission to DEP.Before the vote, the board asked township engineer Dave Horst if he would recommend approval of the resolution.Horst said he would recommend approval, and noted the overall conclusion of the plan has not been changed in large part.One of the requirements of the plan per DEP is that the township has an on-lot septic maintenance ordinance in place, which was previously adopted by the township in 2013, according to township secretary Ann Ostergaard.Ostergaard said that maintenance ordinance would require all residents of the township to have their on-lot septic systems pumped and inspected every three years.However, the ordinance would not take effect until about a year after the actual adoption of the Act 537 plan, Ostergaard said.West Penn Township supervisors are expected to vote on a resolution for its Act 537 plan submission to DEP when it meets at 7 p.m. Monday.Walker's adoption of the resolution comes one month after it chose not to take any action at last month's meeting because they received the resolutions and updates to the plan just before their meeting.Similarly, West Penn supervisors last month also chose not to take any action on the matter at that time so that it could review the resolution.In January, officials from both municipalities conducted a joint meeting to review the plan, and to discuss any additional comments before submission to DEP.Both townships agreed then to table the adoption of resolutions on the plan, and instead requested a meeting with DEP and the West Penn/Walker Township Joint Sewer Committee, and to discuss a time extension with DEP.At that time, Charles Myers, engineer from Rettew Associates Inc., said the next step was for both townships to adopt their ordinances.Everything after the submission is based on DEP's approval of the plan.Myers said the preferred plan is an on-lot disposal system because there are no big infrastructure costs.Horst previously said there were 30 units, 24 in West Penn, and six in Walker, that the plan identifies as potentially needing a community on-lot sewage disposal.He said of the units in West Penn, 12 are in South Tamaqua, six in Andreas, four in Clamtown, and two in Snyders; while the remaining six are in Reynolds in Walker.As part of that plan, the 30 residences would either repair or replace their current system.DEP wants a solution presented in the plan for every user. If there are any users that cannot do on-lot systems, they have to have access to a community system.