Walker Township will ante up, but in the future would like to know what's in the cards.

During a special meeting Thursday, Walker supervisors voted to pay 18 percent of the most recent engineering fees associated with development of their Act 537 Plan, which is a plan for handling sewage in the township. Walker and West Penn townships formed an intermunicipal agreement for the plan, with Walker paying 18 percent and West Penn paying 82 percent.Early in September, Walker received a bill from Rettew, the engineering firm which is developing the plan.Rettew submitted an Act 537 plan to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in December, but PADEP returned it as "administratively incomplete" and gave a checklist of items to be added or revised. Rettew estimated that the changes will cost $40,100.Since 2007, engineering costs from Rettew and Ludgate, the first engineering firm to work on the plan, have been $331,500. West Penn and Walker formed the intermunicipal agreement in 2011.During the special meeting, the Walker supervisors said they felt there was a lack of communication from West Penn, until bills are due."We never see the paperwork, we're not even copied on it," Vice Chairman Craig Wagner said. "It seems like we're giving them an open checkbook."On the request of the supervisors, solicitor Mike Greek said he'd draft a letter requesting improved communications."We're out of the loop until we're asked to spend money," Greek said. "We should be copied on whatever Rettew does."Township engineer Dave Horst, of Benesch & Co., Pottsville, advised the board to sign the agreement."It's a long, drawn-out process," Horst said about getting an Act 537 plan approved. "It's imperative to take the steps needed to wrap it up as quickly as possible."In other action, the supervisors voted to purchase a portable digital radio for their police department at a cost of $3,900. At prior meetings, they had resisted the purchase, but received a letter from the Schuylkill County 911 Center giving them an Oct. 31 deadline.According to the letter, Walker Township was the final entity in the county to purchase a digital radio. The county made the switch from analog to digital radios this year.The supervisors also hired Scott Leiby as a part-time laborer at a rate of $10.75 per hour.