Brownsville Authority deals with legal issues
BROWNSVILLE — The Brownsville Municipal Authority is dealing with several legal issues: the on-going dispute with West Brownsville over a 1968 agreement and a new concern over the hauling of sewage sludge.
Brownsville Borough Council recently raised the sludge-hauling issue, noting that although the borough contracts with Waste Management for all hauling in the borough, the municipal authority has a contract with Veolia for sludge hauling.
Authority chairman Fred Provance said Veolia submitted the lowest bid for the work. Plant manager Jim Knisley said he has since checked with Waste Management, which offered a per-gallon fee slightly lower than Veolia’s fee, but Waste Management added a hauling fee, making their service more expensive.
Solicitor Ernest DeHaas had a copy of the borough’s garbage ordinance at the meeting, but said he needs to also review the contract between the borough and Waste Management before he can advise the authority as to whether it needs to switch services for sludge hauling. Waste Management does pick up garbage at the sewage treatment plant.
It will most likely take longer to resolve an on-going dispute with West Brownsville over the treatment of that municipality’s sewage.
The municipal authority has filed suit against West Brownsville, seeking a portion of the construction costs of the old treatment plant, plus interest. DeHaas told the authority members that the 1968 agreement between the authority and West Brownsville obligated the authority to have enough capacity at the plant to treat West Brownsville’s sewage, which it did. The agreement, DeHaas said, also called for West Brownsville to pay the cost of the allocated space in the event a different treatment option were taken. West Brownsville is in the process of installing sewer lines through the Center-West Sewer Authority.
DeHaas said he received answers Tuesday to questions he had posed in writing to the borough, including the number of households in the borough that will be served by the sewer service. DeHaas said the Brownsville treatment plant has always had sufficient capacity to take in West Brownsville.
“I will be able to take the next step, which is to file a motion with the court to decide this as a matter of law,” DeHaas told the authority members.
The authority members also voted to enter into an agreement with Brownsville Marine Products to allow the barge maker to hire a contractor to relocate a sewer line that serves both the plant and a neighboring section of the borough.
The manhole for the current service lines would be between the tracks of a new railroad spur the company wants to construct to bring materials into the plant. It was noted that all costs would be covered by the company and the new line must meet the authority’s specifications and inspection.