As the French's Landfill capping process reaches its completion, the township has determined the proper boundary lines for a number of nearby residential properties.
The township council at a recent meeting passed several ordinances on first reading which establish boundary lines between township-owned property and private property.
"As part of the surveying that was done … it was discovered that there were some boundary line issues, particularly in the Alaska Avenue area," said Township Attorney Jean Cipriani.
The ordinances resolve the boundary miscalculations and technically give up property owned by the township to local residents, though township ownership of the properties in question was a mistake all along.
Previous township maps "made it look like private properties actually belonged to the township," explained Cipriani.
"In order to complete the landfill project and get everything moving on that, we needed to resolve those boundary disputes," she said.
At a recent council meeting, Councilwoman Susan Lydecker asked if, in the future, any hazardous materials were to be found on the properties, homeowners would be responsible.
Cipriani said federal Superfund laws require the owner of the pollution source – in this case, the township – to be responsible for cleanup no matter who owns property materials end up on.
Cipriani said as part of the landfill capping process, local private properties were inspected to ensure no hazardous materials were present.
"Anything that needed to be remediated has been," she said.
The landfill capping is expected to be completed within the next several weeks, officials said.
As one of the final aspects of the project, the township council authorized the acceptance of bids on a drainage pipe that will cross Lanes Mill Road.
After the capping process is done, it is expected that constructed on the planned solar farm at the site will begin.
