Jul 13, 2007 By Jenny Susa 3 min read

EAST BETHLEHEM TWP. – Members of the Tri-County Joint Municipal Authority talked with engineers Wednesday about the possibility of providing water to a proposed Wal-Mart in the West Brownsville area. Scott Croftcheck, the owner of the property on Route 40 where Wal-Mart is planning to build, said that the company needs a commitment from him within the next month about who will be the water supplier for the business. Croftcheck said that although Pennsylvania American Water has already guaranteed that it can supply water for the Wal-Mart, Croftcheck wanted to give the authority the chance to make a deal because it owns a water tank near the property.

Engineer Greg Scott said that the authority would need to place a new pump near the Malden tank, which would cost more than $1 million. Scott said the new pump is needed because of “friction loss between the tank and the West Brownsville property,” and although the authority could provide water to the Wal-Mart site for normal demands, there would not be enough flow for fire protection.

“The pump can’t handle it, but if we put in a new pump, we can,” said Scott.

Scott added that even if Wal-Mart never builds at the site, the authority still would have to work on the water tank sometime down the road. That means that it still would have work to do even if another water company is providing the water to Wal-Mart.

Scott pointed out that without a commitment concerning a water supplier, Wal-Mart and other businesses that may follow might not come to the area, and the area would lose the opportunity for many new jobs.

Croftcheck said other companies are already looking at the infrastructure a Wal-Mart would spur.

“There are businesses that are looking at the area just because Wal-Mart will be there,” said Croftcheck.

Authority member Lawrence McCusker said that while the authority would love to take on the project, he does not believe it has the financial means to do so without a grant.

Authority members agreed to contact local legislators right away to see if they can obtain a grant, and they should know before the next monthly meeting if they will be able to get a grant for the new pump.

“If we can get a grant, that’s great,” said McCusker. “If we can’t, I don’t think we are in the financial situation to take on a loan.”

The authority could possibly be in some financial trouble because of an error in the union contract. The contract incorrectly said that retired employees were supposed to get 1/30 of their wages in their pensions after retirement, when it should have read 1/80. The authority could be responsible for paying $1.4 million to eight retirees.

The authority’s solicitor, Melinda Dellarose, was advised to continue negotiating the new labor contract with the union after an executive session that was more than one hour long. Authority members said they could not comment about what might happen as a result of the mistake at this time because negotiations for the new labor contract are ongoing.

Chairman Ron Dellarose said he hopes that negotiations will not take much longer.