Eldred Township was notified by the Monroe County Conservation District that it is has to develop an erosion and sedimentary plan for the bank behind the municipal building.

Ann Velopolcek, the township secretary, said there is steep bank about 25 feet high behind the municipal building. At the bottom is a field and then the Buckwha Creek. The township owns seven acres of the bank and field, and the field is farmed by a local farmer.

Velopolcek said that since the mid-1990s when the municipal building was built, the township has dumped soil, gravel, and silt over the bank in an area of about 300 feet. Someone made an anonymous complaint to the MCCD, who now wants the township to have an erosion and sedimentary plan developed. They contend the overburden on the hillside could potentially get into the creek.

At the supervisors meeting in February, Jonathan Gula, the Public Works Department supervisor, said implementing an E&S plan would bring the township into compliance.

Gula said, “It is not garbage or building materials. It is just overburden. Because it is considered overburden, it is considered unstable. It has the potential to wash into the Buckwha Creek.”

Supervisor Blaine Silfies, who worked part-time in the Public Works Department, added, “What they’re recommending is that we put a silt bench down around the bottom and seed spread the bank, and improve this side.”

The supervisors approved having Hanover Engineering, the township’s engineer, create an E&S Plan.