The Bradford Sanitary Authority on Tuesday unanimously approved
its 2007 budget, which stands balanced at $1,724,770 and has no
increase in sewer rates.
The majority of the authority’s revenue next year will come from
charges paid by the customers in the City of Bradford at
$1,174,000.
The surrounding municipalities pay their rates separately,
authority treasurer Lee Doynow said. Foster Township will pay
$162,800 for sewer charges; Lewis Run Borough, $30,520; Bradford
Township, $222,350; and Lafayette Township, $100,600.
Meanwhile, expenditures are broken into five main categories –
$719,005 for personal services, including board, solicitor and
administrative salaries, hourly employee wages and related
benefits; $96,000 for supplies, including office expenses,
treatment chemicals, fuel and oil; $717,101 for other services and
charges, including pretreatment, travel and professional services,
laboratory costs, utilities and maintenance; $132,900 in capital
purchases; and $59,764 for equipment and PENNVEST loan
payments.
Board and solicitor salaries total $36,000, while administrative
salaries are set at $128,000, and hourly employee wages at
$339,000. If elected to the same posts as they served in 2006,
Daniel J. Hartle, authority chairman, will garner $1,000 a month;
vice chairman Bert Clark, $200 per month; Doynow, treasurer, $300 a
month; secretary Rick Brocius, $300; assistant treasurer Ernest
Clark, $200; assistant secretary Robert Witchen, $200; and board
member Mark Austin, $100.
Austin’s term on the authority expires at the end of the year,
but officials said the authority intends to ask the city to
re-appoint Austin.
Also at the meeting, a nominating committee was appointed to
produce a slate of proposed officers for next year.
Treatment Plant Operations Manager Barry Anderson gave a brief
report, saying the sewer work on Main Street has been completed, a
project on Forman Street has been started and will be completed
next year, a laboratory contract was settled for another two years
and a new system for the cleaning water has been employed.
Anderson said the new washing and rinsing water system will be
more efficient and save the authority money over time.
Hartle spoke briefly about a meeting the authority had with
representatives from the state Department of Environmental
Protection and officials from both Foster and Bradford townships
regarding the recent consent decree.
Hartle said he felt the meeting was productive for the most
part, and suggested the board hold an executive session an hour
before the next regular meeting to discuss the written response due
to the DEP on the matter no later than Jan. 19.
The next regular meeting is set for 4 p.m. Jan. 16.
In other business, the board members and solicitor Richard W.
Mutzabaugh once again discussed the ongoing situation with an
illegal sewer connection on Congress Street.
Mutzabaugh said he had made two telephone calls to city
officials on the matter since the last meeting and had received “no
results whatsoever.”
He went on to say he and Hartle were currently coming up with a
plan to take action on the property, suggesting making the repairs
and then placing a municipal lien on the property could be one
solution.
Mutzabaugh and Hartle agreed that action had to be taken hastily
to prevent consequences that the DEP would hand down to the
authority if the violation is not corrected very soon.
“If push comes to shove, we’ll do it,” Mutzabaugh said, adding
the authority has been pursuing the matter for three years with no
results.
