CENTER TWP — Center Township supervisors voted against granting a waiver that would allow Butler School District to add 24 new parking spots to Center Township Elementary School without creating a stormwater retention pond Wednesday during the supervisors’ monthly meeting at Unionville Fire Department fire hall.

Michael Preston, senior associate at Stantec Architecture, which is in charge of the parking lot expansion, went before the board Wednesday and asked for the waiver.

Preston said the parking spots will take $19,000 to add and that the stormwater retention pond will take another $20,000 to $25,000.

Preston said it is not within the school district’s budget to do both.

Center Township has the authority to waive the necessity for stormwater retention measures, though township engineer Ron Olsen said the township has never done so.

“I’m sort of hesitant to recommend any waivers,” he said. “I’m recommending on everything that their be stormwater management.”

Township Supervisor Ken Frenchak, who was physically absent from the meeting but was listening in via a cell phone that was placed on the supervisors’ desk, chimed in.

“We don’t grant a waiver because we don’t want to start a precedence,” he said.

Township supervisor Ron Flatt was concerned with the lack of information presented regarding how the area would be affected if the parking lot were built without stormwater retention measures in place.

“What I’m saying is, even (show us) calculations to potential changes on the site,” he said.

Township supervisor Ed Latuska was adamant in following Olsen’s opinion.

“Based on his advice, we don’t grant the waiver,” he said.

Center Township tabled the motion to both preliminarily and finally approve the land development.

“This being a small site, they can do that all at once,” Preston explained.

Preston said he will take the township’s decision regarding the stormwater retention back to the school district.

He said that because of time restrictions due to winter weather, regardless of whether or not any construction on the parking lot or stormwater retention pond was done, it would not be until at least spring of 2017.