BUFFALO TWP — For township supervisors and residents, stormwater is a lingering problem.

The supervisors held a special meeting Wednesday to field questions and comments regarding stormwater pollution plans required to meet standards set by the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System permit.

Ken Howard, township engineer, said the permit is mandated by the Department of Environmental Protection and requires the construction of infrastructure to reduce stormwater sediment by 10 percent each year.

“These have now been pushed into your portion of the state,” Howard said. “We're trying to help them stay on the straight and narrow with DEP requirements.” Howard outlined a number of projects needed for compliance. He said some could be simple like installing baffles in a pond and installing sediment traps. He said others like stream bank restoration could be costly and time-consuming.

Howard said the largest project would reduce stormwater pollutants in an area south of Sterling Drive by more than 19,000 pounds per year.

“Stream-bank restoration is probably more costly than the pond retrofit,” Howard said. “The road crew can do some of this work, and some would need contracted out.”

Howard said if the road crew can handle even some of the projects, it could drastically reduce the financial impact.

When prompted by a resident, Howard said the project could cost between $700,000 and $800,000 if every project was contracted.

One resident, Joe Jackson, said it's frustrating that most of the pollution issues exist around housing developments.

“Most of this business is going to be where the housing plans are. Why should everybody in the township be responsible for that?” Jackson asked.

Jackson claimed most of the developments either knowingly don't have enough stormwater infrastructure or aren't maintaining them. He said it's not fair that the township pay for something that he believes is the housing developments' problem.

“I think if they're the ones using it, they should pay for it,” he said. “We pay for enough.”

Supervisor Matthew Sweeny said standards have changed since the plans were built, and the township is asked to make up the difference whether it wants to or not.

“This is above and beyond what was required of those ponds when they were built,” Sweeny said. “These are the cards we've been dealt. ”

According to Howard, the supervisors hope to approve plans in August and they have five years to build the infrastructure that would keep them compliant.

Ending the special meeting, supervisors began their regular board meeting. Again, stormwater took center stage but with less focus on pollution and more on flood damage.

Matthew Mahlmeister served as a spokesman for a group of his neighbors near the intersection of Bear Creek and Sarver roads. He said their homes are not in a flood zone but they all suffered from runoff that has been improperly routed, and the problems get worse each year.

“My wife has pictures of both sides of our road, where the water just builds up,” Mahlmeister said. “I've never taken on the water that I have (this year).”

He said he had around three feet of water in his basement, damaging not only his appliances but the foundation itself.

Mahlmeister said he, a military veteran who has some health problems, is trying to repair his home himself because his insurance did not cover the damage.

Steve Buterbaugh said he and his wife have had problems for a second time since they bought their home in 2014, and he was told by neighbors that the house was flooded twice before he took residence there.

“I'm fortunate enough to only have 8 inches of water,” Buterbaugh said. “Our entire street was a river.”

Buterbaugh said he also was not in a flood zone.

“If we're going to continue to have rain like this and these past years are a projection of the future, Buffalo Township is in for more than we can handle,” Buterbaugh said.