Redstone panel fails to act on potential rate hike
REDSTONE TWP. – There was little action at Monday’s Redstone Township Sewer Authority, with the hot-button issues of a potential rate increase and potential purchase of an office building not even making it to the agenda. About a dozen citizens attended the meeting, with only a handful asking questions. Resident Tom Zimmerlink Sr. wanted to know what the authority has been doing about property owners who haven’t tapped into the sewer system.
“We’re citing them,” said authority chairman Dwayne Thomas. “There are about 10 in the system who aren’t tapped in.”
Thomas said there are limited actions the authority can take against property owners who haven’t tapped into the sewer system: they can be jailed or they can be fined. If they also fail to pay their monthly sewage bill, regardless of whether they are tapped in, they can also have their water shut off.
If the fines and bills go unpaid, the authority can also place a lien against the property.
Thomas said the water cannot be shut off simply because the property owner hasn’t tapped into the system if the monthly bills are paid. “About six of the 10 are bank-owned and nobody lives in them,” said authority member and township supervisor Ray Paris.
Paris also noted that there are different sewage systems in different area of the township and so there will also be different rates, since the rates are based on construction and operating expenses.
The Colonial Joint Sewer Authority in Jefferson Township will serve residents in the Rowes Run area, with a monthly rate of $39.
The residents in Allison, Republic and surrounding areas are served by the Redstone Sewer Authority and pay $30 a month.
Although the authority has said that a state grant program that helped cover operating expenses has ended and more revenue is being lost due to the demolition of Dunlap Creek Village, no rate increase amount has been discussed by the authority.