Masontown council votes to raise water rates
MASONTOWN — Borough officials are once again working to increase water rates to help offset the cost of upgrades to the borough water treatment plant as mandated last year by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
By unanimous vote Tuesday, council agreed to raise the rates by $5, meaning that residents and property owners will pay a base rate of $80 per month for water and sewage services, effective next month. Councilmen Edward Gulino and Joseph Stillwagon were absent.
“We have to do it. It has to be done,” said Councilman Harry Lee, who seconded the motion made by Councilman Mike Washko to implement the rate increase.
“It has to be done for capital expenditures so we can upgrade our facilities,” said council President Frank McLaughlin.
The language of the motion, however, failed to include advertising an amendment to the borough water ordinance in order to raise the rates, as required by law.
McLaughlin said Wednesday the borough solicitor will be consulted concerning the oversight.
In December, council raised water rates by $4 as a way or repaying a $708,000 loan from the Municipal Authority to move forward with a 10-inch waterline interconnect project. Council undertook the project to alleviate problems at the water plant.
On Tuesday, McLaughlin said the plant served about 1,600 properties and that the borough was hoping to raise an additional $8,000 a month to help offset the cost of completing mandated upgrades.
Last year, DEP threatened the borough with fines and penalties should it fail to address deficiencies with its sludge removal system at the water treatment plant.
McLaughlin has stressed that the water quality in residential households and commercial properties within the borough is “fine” per the most recent water quality reports, and that the DEP-mandated upgrades affect only the water on the discharge side of the borough’s water plant, where waste from producing water is released back into the river. The borough’s water plant was constructed in the 1930s or 1940s and has been revamped over the years.
In February, council approved payment of $8,100 in fines levied against the borough by the DEP for slow reporting practices regarding the discharge from the borough’s sewer treatment plants into local water ways.
Also that the meeting, officials heard from proponents and opponents of a proposed lease agreement between Chevron and county commissioners that would permit subsurface natural gas drilling at German-Masontown Park.
At a Tuesday agenda meeting, commissions unanimously agreed to consider the 5-year lease utilizing the 125-acre park that is part of a larger tract of area Chevron representatives say the company hopes to lease as it expands its natural gas production.
At the borough council meeting, Geno Gallo, administrative assistant to Commissioner Al Ambrosini, said he was addressing council as a courtesy to inform them of the proposed lease and dispel any misunderstandings concerning the language of the lease.
Jonathan Jones, a self-described activist from Uniontown, told council there were legal questions concerning how the lease agreement came about and cited concerns that potential environmental impacts on the community had not been addressed.
Should commissioners approve the lease agreement at their next meeting, slated for Aug. 18, Chevron may conduct subterranean drilling under the surface of the park.
Should drilling occur, 15 percent of production royalties will be set aside in a legacy fund that will provide for capital improvements to the county’s three parks, with one-third of that funding being earmarked toward the completion of the Sheepskin Trail.
Also at the meeting, council:
n Agreed to advertize to fill positions left vacant by the retirement of the borough’s officer manager and resignation of a part-time billing clerk.
n Agreed to bid a water plant operations job according to a union contract.
n Agreed to provide two borough employees to assist German Township with a Hard to Recycle event at the German-Masontown Park on Oct. 17.