A Williamsburg man who built a cabin on top of Brush Mountain in Antis Township on property he doesn’t own, and who is trying to correct issues with the site so he can occupy it legally, complained this week to the township supervisors that he’s been unable to start a dialog with an alternative sewage enforcement officer who he hopes will solve the main problem with the property.

Shane Shawver received permission from the supervisors last month to use the alternate SEO, after he had concluded that things weren’t working out with the area’s regular SEO to find a way for Shawver to dispose of sewage on the property, which is on rocky ground, where a traditional septic system won’t work.

Shawver seems to hope he may be able to obtain a privy permit or permission to use a composting toilet on the site, but he’s been unable to get the alternate SEO to return his numerous calls, according to Shawver’s statements to the supervisors and a supervisor who spoke to the Mirror after the meeting.

Shawver built the two-story, 30-by-40-foot structure just north of the steel-tower powerline that runs between Pinecroft and Sinking Valley in 2019 on what he thought was his own property, based on a GPS application, but he was later sued by HMLM Inc., which actually owns the land, for encroaching by about 700 feet.

Shawver worked out a purchase agreement with HMLM for the ground on which the cabin stands, plus a 20-foot-wide right-of-way that connects with Shawver’s own property, but that agreement was nullified by the court, because Shawver failed to obtain prior subdivision approval from the township for the property transfer.

When there is a transfer of ownership, subdivision approval is required, and that may only happen if there is an approved means of sewage disposal, unless the prospective new owner avers there will be no house construction, according to township solicitor Patrick Fanelli.

Thus, Shawver will need to obtain legal permission for some sort of sewage disposal on the property before he can attempt again to obtain ownership of that property from HMLM, and thus subdivision approval from the township.

Based on state and municipal law in Pennsylvania, a privy is “a watertight receptacle … that receives and retains sewage, where a public water supply under pressure or piped wastewater is not available,” according to an online source. It often includes an underground pit or vault to contain human excrement, according to the source. No discharge over the surface or into waters of the state is permitted, according to the source.

A composting toilet is a waterless system for processing human waste into compost “through a biological decomposition process involving microorganisms, similar to a traditional compost pile,” according to an online source. Composting toilets are “well-suited for off-grid living or areas with scarce water.” They allow for separation of solids and liquids and use “a medium like wood shavings or peat moss” to help with decomposition, according to the source.

In response to Shawver’s plea for help, township officials left a message with the alternate SEO Friday morning, asking the alternate SEO to reach out to Shawver, said supervisors Chairman Brian Kustaborder.

If that request fails, officials plan to make a follow-up call to the alternate SEO, Kustaborder said.

“We hope to get it resolved where everybody is happy,” Kustaborder said. “I can see (Shawver’s) frustration.”

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.