CLARKS GREEN — At the Clarks Green Council meeting August 15, Councilman David Rinaldi, in his Abington Regional Wastewater Authority (ARWA) report, mentioned the authority talked about a tapping file revision.
“The amount of tapping fees is based on a formula depending upon the value of a facility,” he said.
Rinaldi said the value of the facility gets diminished by the loans that ARWA is paying back.
“When they (ARWA) did the calculation, it turned out the increase at this point in time would only be six dollars,” he said.
Rinaldi also mentioned that the authority decided to revisit it another time when the debt decreases. He also reported that ARWA treated a record amount of 22 million gallons of water on the road from the rainfall on Tuesday, Aug. 7. He said the previous record was 18 million.
“Some of the deepest spots on the road included the intersection of Route 6 and Abington Road, which was six to eight inches,” Rinaldi said. “When we have a rain event, we have spikes and it’s unlikely these spikes would be caused by water leaching in the pipes.”
Rinaldi mentioned that ARWA discussed that several municipalities (Clarks Green, Clarks Summit and South Abington Township) are trying to reduce inflows during the association’s last meeting.
“Inflow comes from two sources,” he said. “It comes from someone connecting to the sewer system and pumping water in, which is the reason these floods happen.”
Rinaldi explained that the other source is manholes. He suggested that the municipalities try two things.
“One is sealing the manholes, and two, is to try to determine which portion of this sewer shed has the most inflow,” he said.
Rinaldi said the area with the higher spikes is the one with the most inflow. He also said that David O’Neill, township manager of South Abington Township and Virginia Kehoe, borough manager of Clarks Summit Borough were both present at the ARWA meeting.
He said both municipalities are interested in leasing a flow meter through ARWA and if these municipalities obtain a flow meter, they would be able to determine where the worst areas of inflow are and be able to eliminate them.
According to Rinaldi, it would cost $1,800 because ARWA would move the meters. He also said if the municipalities move the meters every six months, it would be an additional $600.
In other business:
• Members of council authorized an application for a traffic signal approval. Rinaldi said PennDOT returned more comments about plans for the Green Light Go Project, which is an emergency vehicle preemption system.
• Council President Joe Barrasse said a bid has been submitted for the replacement of two plow vehicles at a total cost of $157,000 and the borough plans to submit a local share Monroe County grant application to purchase the vehicles.
• Rinaldi submitted copies of the Emergency Management Plan and advised members of council to submit the latest draft of the document to Clarks Summit Borough for their consideration.
• Members of council received a contribution from Maureen Thorburn, the wife of the late mayor Bill Thorburn, and family to the Mayor Thorburn Memorial Fund. Barrasse said council might use the money to replace a bench or do some work in Clarks Green’s pocket park as well as fund a scholarship for a Clarks Green resident.
• Mayor Patty Lawler recognized Councilman Keith Williams for receiving the 4-Way Test award, the Abington Rotary Club’s most prestigious award, for demonstrating civic leadership skills in the community.
