The Department of Environmental Protection has approved the Lower Towamensing Township Official Sewage Facilities Plan for a new sewage system. Township supervisors said Tuesday that the sewage system plan will service Aquashicola, Walkton, Little Gap, Red Hill Road and Weiner Mobile Estates.

“We finally came out of the woods,” said Ron Walbert, vice chairman of the board of supervisors.Plans for the sewer system have been in the works for numerous decades.“We’ve never been to the point that we had an approved plan,” said Chairman Brent Green.With the approval, now engineering and design work can get completed and state aid can be sought.It’s going to be a three- to five-year process before construction can begin in 2020 or 2021, Walbert said.One of the next steps will be a fly-over of the land to set control points and define the land.Gregory Haas, a professional engineer with Carbon Engineering Inc. in Summit Hill, said in an earlier meeting, “We didn’t do any field work yet. (The plans) are just demonstrating that we can service the areas.”At that time, it was hoped that construction could begin by July 2018 and be completed by April 2020 with final pavement restoration.According to the plan, the new sewer system will be comprised of gravity lines, manholes and pump stations and their associated force mains.A portion serving Aquashicola, Walkton and Little Gap will be treated at the Blue Mountain Ski Area Wastewater Treatment Plant.Another portion of the line serving Red Hill Road and Weiner Mobile Estates will be treated at the Palmerton Borough Wastewater Treatment Plant.The total cost of the project, including surveying, engineering, land acquisition, inspection, legal and administrative fees and interest, has been estimated to be about $12.4 million.In other business, Lower Towamensing Township’s new website will provide a place for real estate companies to upload available houses in the township and provides advertising space to promote businesses and non-profit groups. The advertising also provides some revenue to the township to help cover the cost of the website.“I think the rates are fair. It’s an economical way for people to advertise,” Walbert said. “We just need to get some customers.”The township has rates for large and small advertisements that can run monthly, quarterly or annually. The annual costs for large advertisements are: $1,020 for a monthly ad; $900 for a quarterly ad; and $780 for a yearly ad. The annual costs for small ads are: $660 for a monthly ad; $540 for a quarterly ad; and $420 for a yearly ad. The costs can be paid on a monthly basis.Anyone interested in more information about placing an ad on the township’s website should contact Christine Wentz at 610-826-2522.