Jun 4, 2008 By Christine Haines 3 min read

LUZERNE TWP. – Unresolved issues regarding rights-of-way, untapped properties and pumps for low-lying homes were addressed this week by the Luzerne Township Sewage Authority. “Tonight we’re going to get committees together and we’re going to get these things resolved,” said Pat Ballon, chairman of the authority. “We’re not going to deal with the same things every month.”

Resident Bill Orbash said he’s been trying for 10 months to have restoration work done on his property and restitution made for damages caused by the contractor when the sewer line went through his farm.

“Nothing’s been resolved. I can’t brush hog over the ditches,” Orbash said.

Orbash said he lost a calf and a cow during a difficult birth when he couldn’t get to them in time because of the ditches left by the contractor.

“I can’t afford to lose cattle that way,” Orbash said.

Orbash said the contractor also damaged concrete forms on his property and has not made restitution.

Orbash said he also has a problem with raw sewage from a neighboring property that did not tap into the system because the house is more than 150 feet away from the sewer lines. Orbash said the neighbor’s on-lot system isn’t working and raw sewage is going into the creek he uses to water his cattle.

Township Supervisor Ted Kollar said the sewerage enforcement officer would be sent to look into the problem.

Township police Chief Roy Mehalik said Tower Hill residents have been complaining about raw sewage running down Main Street, even though they are all tapped into the system.

“It’s more than likely a house that had more than one line and only one got tapped in,” said Don Reho, the authority’s engineer.

The plant manager and/or an inspector were directed to investigate the cause of the problem in Tower Hill.

The plant operators were directed to look into complaints of a strong odor in the neighborhood near the treatment plant.

“Come sit at my house and smell the odor coming off of that plant,” said Daryl Gregg of Maxwell.

Gregg also asked for an explanation of the recent rate increase and complained about homes in his neighborhood that still aren’t tapped into the system, as required.

“When are you going to make them tap in?” Gregg asked.

Billing administrator Michele Plutch said there are seven occupied homes and seven vacant houses in the Phase 1 area including Maxwell and LaBelle that have not tapped into the system.

The owners of the occupied homes have been cited at the magisterial district judge’s office and four need to be cited again, Plutch said. Plutch said the owners of five of the seven occupied homes have paid the tap-in fee.

There are issues with the other two.

“One family’s in bankruptcy and our attorney told us not to do anything and one family has a retaining wall that no contractor will touch,” said plant manager Tony Capuzzi.

There are also ongoing problems with 18 homes in Maxwell that sit too low for their sewage to be gravity-fed to the treatment plant. The authority authorized the purchase of 18 pumps to resolve that issue.