clean water needed

Read below and weep for them if they cannot get clean water.



Weis still needs water for I-99 store

By Pete Bosak

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SPRING TOWNSHIP -- Weis Markets cleared its first hurdle Monday night to building a new supermarket as the anchor of a proposed development at the Interstate 99 and state Route 550 interchange in the township.

Township supervisors voted 3-0 Monday to re-designate 40 acres of land in the southeast quadrant of the interchange for commercial use, setting the stage for Weis to build its proposed 53,700-square-foot supermarket.

Tentative site plans include potential restaurants, a bank and office building to occupy the site off I-99 east of Bellefonte.

But a significant hurdle remains, township officials said.

"Nothing is set in stone because there is no approved water source," township Zoning Officer Vaughn Zimmerman said. "If they do not get a water source, this whole plan could go out the window."

Now at issue is Bellefonte's water system and its apparent inability to provide water to the site. There is no water system to the 40-acre tract, part of the Robert Kerstetter estate.

Borough Manager Ralph Stewart could not be reached for comment.

"Coverage doesn't reach out there," said township Supervisor Frank Royer Jr. "Bellefonte, I don't think, can do any (new development) until they get their water system expanded."

Municipal officials are working to find a water source, Royer said. Ground wells are a consideration, he said.

"The water is a resolvable issue, just like every other obstacle they have faced," Royer said. "It's something good for the citizens, a good market."

With the zoning change approved, Weis must comply with regulations yet to be set forth by Nittany Valley Joint Planning Commission, which is regulating growth along the I-99 corridor for municipalities, officials said.

"I couldn't give you a timetable on this (project)," Zimmerman said.

Marty Meiser, with Knapka Surveying in Bellefonte, which is working for Weis, said the Sunbury-based supermarket chain wants to begin construction as soon as possible.

"They're ready to go," Meiser said.