Published: August 26, 2008 10:32 pm            

Judge floats toilet deal

EBENSBURG — Judge Norman Krumenacker on Tuesday sought a compromise in a dispute regarding the use of outdoor toilets by a conservative Amish sect at a Barr Township school.

No agreement was reached in closed-door meetings spanning three hours. Afterward, Ebensburg attorney James Stratton, who represents the Amish, said he is optimistic a settlement can be reached.

Krumenacker had been scheduled to hear an appeal by two Amish men who were sentenced to 90 days in jail and fined $1,000 each by District Judge Michael Zungali for violating state sewage-disposal laws at the school.

Zungali had found Sam Yoder and Andy Swartzentruber guilty of the sewage-disposal violations. Swartzentruber is the landowner where the school is situated, and Yoder is an elder in charge of the school.

The men are members of the ultraconservative Swartzentruber sect, which maintains that the sewage requirements violate their First Amendment rights to exercise religious beliefs.

The county sewage enforcement agency filed the charges, and its solicitor, William Barbin of Johnstown, took part in the discussions with the judge.

According to Stratton, the judge had proposed a 10-point solution. The Amish are to have further discussions among themselves on what may be acceptable, and Stratton expects to report back to the judge next week.

“If each side gives some, perhaps each side can live with it.

“His (Krumenacker’s) desire – as is ours – is to get the kids in school,” Stratton said.

About 16 to 18 Amish children are enrolled in the school. Normally, they would be back in school this week, he said.

Barbin was meeting with sewage enforcement officials and unavailable for comment. But the sewage agency has said that it would rather have the situation resolved than seek an injunction to close the school or file new charges.

        

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