Frequently Asked Questions
Quick guidance on common questions related to White Township services, policies, and day-to-day operations.
Fire Hydrants
Fire hydrants are installed by local water companies (Pennsylvania-American, Central Indiana County Water Authority and Indiana County Municipal Services Authority) at the request of those whose properties would benefit from them.
Residents must present to the township office a petition signed by the owners of at least 51 percent of the properties within 780 feet of a proposed fire hydrant location. (Those interested may pick up a petition form at the township office.)
After review and approval of the petition by the board of supervisors, the township would contract with the water supplier for the installation of the hydrant. The water company would select the exact location, perform the installation and bill the township annually for the cost of its upkeep and operation.
In turn, the township would assess equal shares of that cost to the owners of the properties served by the hydrant.
Natural Resources
Water flows out of White Township through two networks of streams that both eventually discharge to the Allegheny River. The Crooked Creek watershed (including Fulton Run and McKee Run) conveys water from the northern third of the township. The Two Lick Creek watershed (including Whites Run, Cherry Run, Stoney Run, Marsh Run, and Ramsey Run) drains the southern two thirds of the township toward Center Township.
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (Pa. DEP) performs periodic water quality testing on these streams and has determined that only 56 percent of the 90 stream miles in White Township are in good health; nutrients, sediment, and pathogens impair 44 percent of White Township’s streams. DEP states that urban runoff, agriculture, and abandoned mine drainage are the sources of these pollutants.
Permits
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) administers the federal permit program that allows developed communities to discharge stormwater into local streams. As White Township grows, DEP may require the Township to perform more water quality tasks such as water quality planning and reporting, storm sewer mapping and assessment, site inspections, and public education.
With a few exceptions for charitable or fundraising efforts, and the sale and delivery of many locally-made food products, permits are required for door-to-door contact of township residents by peddlers – those “selling or offering for sale of any goods, wares, services or merchandise for immediate delivery,” according to White Township Ordinance 1070 (adopted Sept. 23, 2015).
Permits also are required for solicitors, defined by the ordinance as those “seeking or taking of contracts or orders for any goods, wares, services or merchandise for future delivery, or for subscriptions or contributions, upon any of the streets or sidewalks, from house to house, by visitation to private residences, or be entering in or upon private property, within the Township.”
Peddlers and solicitors must visit the White Township office at 950 Indian Springs Road to complete an application, pay a non-refundable fee for its consideration and then pick up the approved permit before starting sales. Those with questions about the process may phone the township office at 724.463.8585 or email wtinfo@whitetownship.org.
Recycling
White Township and Indiana Borough, in conjunction with the Indiana County Solid Waste Authority, implemented a curbside recycling program in 1990 for collection of metal cans, glass bottle and newspapers. The program was expanded in 2015 for collection of No. 1 and No. 2 plastic products.
Two recycling bins are provided to each household in White Township. The bins (maroon for metal, glass and newspaper; blue for plastics) are stamped with serial numbers and are assigned to specific addresses. Bins are to remain with houses and apartments when occupancy changes. Replacement bins can be purchased for $15.00 at the White Township office.
The Indiana County Solid Waste Authority was created to help Indiana County and its municipalities comply with Pennsylvania Act 101 of 1988, the law that governs recycling in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Authority operates the Indiana County Recycling Center.
Stormwater Management
A combination of efforts by White Township, Indiana Borough, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Indiana County over the past years has significantly reduced the frequency, severity and locations of flooding in White Township.
However, as rainfall, snowfall, rapid melting of winter ice accumulation and sudden onset of rain storms remain beyond anyone’s control, the risk of flooding and the threat of damage to private property and public assets will always be a possibility.
Advances in weather forecasting technology have given White Township administration and work crews a greater ability to understand when stormy weather could create problems, where trouble could arise, and the severity of possible flooding.
The White Township staff monitors low-lying streets, roads and bridges where flooding has occurred in the past, and remains in contact with Indiana County Emergency Management Agency to respond to reports of unexpected stream and creek flooding.
The township’s regular schedule of maintenance of ditches, stormwater inlets, drainage pipes and culverts, combined with inspections and special cleaning efforts in advance of bad weather, helps to assure smooth stormwater runoff and minimizes the damage from backups and overflows.
Flooding experiences also guide the township’s prioritization of major drainage improvement and flood prevention projects to be completed.
The term stormwater embraces drainage in all its forms, whether the runoff from a gentle rainfall, the gradual melt of a winter snowfall or the sudden surge of water from a strong thunderstorm.
In a perfect world of greenery and soil, the earth naturally absorbs water and retains it underground or drains it to streams, creeks and rivers that flow into the oceans.
In our reality of buildings, parking lots, playgrounds, and roads, we have less bare earth to take in the rainwater and snowmelt that drain off the paved areas (called impervious surfaces). The township is responsible for protecting the publicly-owned pavement from accumulations of stormwater (including rain, snow, and ice) and for managing the burden of excess stormwater on soils and waterways.
The White Township public works departments regularly install and maintain the gutters, swales, ditches, inlets, pipes, and culverts that carry away the stormwater. Strategic management of the drainage system includes easing the flow into natural waterways to reduce the risks of erosion and flooding.
Stormwater management is a comprehensive process for the White Township administration and staff. The township pays the costs of the stormwater management program by assessing annual fees to owners of properties with buildings, driveways and parking lots that create impervious areas.
The staff performs periodic inspections and regular maintenance of the drainage systems including bridges, culverts, inlets and pipes. The crew uses cameras to look inside pipes and a variety of equipment to remove leaves, dirt and other debris from gutters, ditches and drain grates.
The administration studies the results of inspections and watches the overall operation of the drainage system to see where pipes or inlets need to be repaired or replaced, or decide where new systems should be installed.
The effective control of water runoff helps to protect the health, safety and welfare of township residents and property owners.
The White Township stormwater management program is directed by Section 263 of the White Township Code, as established by Ordinance 1083, adopted on March 13, 2019, by the board of supervisors. (https://ecode360.com/11917057)
The township collects a fee of $2 per month for each household or apartment and of varying amounts for commercial properties and those with significant paved or impervious surfaces.
The stormwater management fund is used for the installation of new stormwater control features, and improvement, maintenance and repair of existing ones.
Concern over the control of stormwater – runoff from rainfall, snowmelt and all forms of precipitation – has grown in White Township over the past 90 years of increasing development. What once were natural areas of fields, meadows, woodlands and farmlands have been replaced with homes, commercial buildings, athletic surfaces, driveways, parking lots, roads and streets.
Private developers and the township have created ditches, curbs, gutters, drainage basins, pipelines, culverts and retention ponds to manage the flow of water into streams and creeks while reducing the flow of pollutants into the natural waterways.
White Township’s effort to manage stormwater is threefold: the design and construction of new measures in response to both climate change and increases in impervious surfaces, the cleaning and repair of existing water channeling features, and the replacement of aging pipes and basins that have rusted or deteriorated through time and wear.
The stormwater management fee collected since 2016 enables the township to conduct its ongoing program of construction, maintenance and replacement of the stormwater control system.
By definition, impervious means not allowing fluid to pass through.
It is often used to describe cement, asphalt, brick, concrete or compacted earth surfaces or metal, shingle, plastic or other solid structural surfaces that push water away and prevent the absorption of rainwater, snow and other forms of precipitation that dirt or grass services such as lawns, meadows, fields, farms or forests do.
The water that drains away following a rain shower, snowfall, the accumulation of ice or slush, a winter blizzard or even a strong thunderstorm is called stormwater. Some stormwater evaporates, some is naturally absorbed by the earth and some drains into waterways, but stormwater on non-absorbent (impervious) surfaces such as roofs, driveways, sidewalks, roads, parking lots or paved recreational surfaces requires the township’s attention and effort for its proper drainage to earthen surfaces or waterways.
White Township in 2016 enacted a monthly fee to raise needed money for stormwater management service.
The fee enabled the township to assess the stormwater drainage systems throughout the township, to perform needed repairs on aging pipelines, to construct new stormwater control features and to establish a regular program of maintenance of the stormwater system.
The fee was set at $2 a month per single-family residence and at higher amounts for other residential, commercial and industrial properties. The rates for the larger properties are proportional, based on the average amount of impervious surface of a single-family residence and multiplied by the actual amount of area covered by driveways, parking lots, buildings and other impermeable surfaces.
White Township has regularly studied the conditions of storm drain ditches, inlets, pipes, culverts and bridges; planned an annual schedule of maintenance; assisted developers in designing their stormwater control measures and performed two major stormwater drainage improvement projects in the Chevy Chase Heights neighborhood.
In 2023, the stormwater management fee is unchanged from its original rate.
Those with questions may telephone 724.463.8585, email stormwater@whitetownship.org, or write to White Township, 950 Indian Springs Road, Indiana, PA 15701.
The structural management of stormwater – rainfall, snowmelt and runoff of other precipitation – has become a necessary replacement for what once was the natural management of water.
In a green environment, the precipitation that isn’t absorbed by the earth or evaporates into the air normally flows into small local streams that lead to the region’s rivers and ultimately to the oceans.
Covering the earth with buildings, parking lots, sports facilities, driveways, highways and airport runways diverts greater amounts of precipitation to the streams and waterways. That volume is compounded by the runoff from streets and roads that also must be protected from accumulations of rainwater and snowmelt.
The management of stormwater through the construction of gutters, drain inlets, pipelines and other control channels is intended to avert flooding and damage to private and public property, prevent erosion and reduce the introduction of pollutants into the natural waterways.
White Township requires developers of new buildings or impervious surfaces to construct stormwater controls meeting various standards of efficiency as their obligation to the entire stormwater management system.
Street Lights
How can I have a street light installed near my home?
The local electric service companies (Penelec, REA Energy) will install street lights at the request of the property owners they would serve.
Those who desire street light service should submit to the township a petition signed by owners of 70 percent of the properties within 250 feet of proposed light fixtures. Upon review of the petition and approval by the board of supervisors, the township would contract with the electric company for the installation of street lights. The company would decide where and how many are needed, install them and bill the township each year for the cost of installation, maintenance and power usage.
The township, in turn, would divide the cost among the owners based on the length of the properties (“front footage”) along the street or road where the new lights operate.
How do I report a street light outage?
Residents should phone the township office at 724.463.8585 or email wtinfo@whitetownship.org and report the exact location of a street light that is not properly working.
The township office will promptly contact the appropriate electric company and request service for the street light.
Utilities
How do I report poor broadband service in the township?
Commercial internet service providers accept their customers’ reports of slow, spotty, inadequate or disrupted service in their service areas.
The Indiana County Office of Planning and Development is the lead agency in efforts to extend reliable and consistent broadband internet service to residents in unserved or underserved areas. ICOPAD has been instrumental in securing millions of dollars of grant funding and procuring contracts with private internet service providers to improve the reach of broadband coverage in Indiana County.
Residents of White Township whose homes are not within the established commercial internet providers’ service areas may contact the county Office of Planning & Development to be placed on the maps for new coverage. Phone 724.465.3870 or email Executive Director Byron Stauffer at byronjr@ceo.co.indiana.pa.us for more information.
What is that pipe sticking up out of the ground by my property line?
A white plastic pipe is the inspection port for the sewer pipe between your house and the main sewage system. It must not be buried or covered by vegetation because it can be used for service and maintenance.
Waste Disposal
Can I flush expired medications down the toilet?
Pharmaceuticals and other household chemicals, considered micropollutants, often pass through the primary, secondary and sometimes the tertiary levels of wastewater treatment, and therefore may be discharged along with otherwise decontaminated water into creeks, streams and rivers. Having passed through screening, disinfecting and filtering processes, these environmental persistent pharmaceutical pollutants pose a risk to aquatic organisms.
While advanced filtration processes are being researched and tested worldwide, the disposal of chemical products including drugs, medications and cleaning products should not be put down household drains.
In the United States, the National Take Back Initiative is a voluntary program encouraging the public to avoid flushing excess or expired drugs to the sewage system.
In the White Township area, drug take-back drop-off points are operated by the Indiana County district attorney’s office, Pennsylvania state police, Indiana Borough police and at least one area pharmacy. Those with expired or unused medication may contact their family doctor, neighborhood drugstore or the nearest law enforcement agency for information about disposing of unneeded drugs.