At the Dec. 20 Coplay Whitehall Sewer Authority (CWSA) monthly meeting, the board received good news that ratepayers will get a little break from Scheuermann Excavating.

"Scheuermann agreed to reduce its charges for the Route 22 project because they didn't encounter any rock when drilling under the highway," said CWSA engineer Darryl Jenkins.

The Whitehall-based company made the offer to Jenkins during closing negotiations on the Route 22 project.

"This was a difficult project with more cave-ins then anticipated and tricky soils," said Jenkins.

Scheuermann representatives made a commitment to the authority at the start of the project to make an adjustment if they did not hit the expected rock. Board member Michael Hobel indicated that an adjustment was not required nor expected.

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In other business, the authority continues to find ways to express its opposition to the potential lease of the Allentown wastewater treatment plant.

The board passed a motion to support a group of residents who are petitioning to place the measure on the ballot as a referendum. Chairman John Schreiner noted the CWSA cannot financially support the effort, but encouraged board members to lend their personal support.

On Nov. 13, CWSA held a meeting with Allentown representatives and several signatories to operating agreements with the Allentown wastewater treatment plant. Board member Joseph Marx is tasked with the responsibility to get CWSA's system in compliance with EPA mandates. He said he was concerned with the progress Allentown is making to comply with the EPA's Inflow and Infiltration (I&I) mandate.

CWSA has expressed its concern that Allentown is ignoring some of the requirements.

"Some of the signatories are catching up to where we are in the process," reported Marx. The I&I mandate is designed to reduce the amount of water entering the sewer system from rainwater and underground seepage.

The EPA contends that reducing the inflow of relatively clear water will reduce the need for increased capacity at the wastewater treatment plant.

Based on the Nov. 13 meeting, Marx concluded that Allentown will request an extension from the EPA to complete the I&I project.

"Allentown's consultant could not give us any pricing on what it would cost to meet the mandates," said Marx.

His concern is that the costs to complete the I&I project in Allentown under a lease agreement would fall on all the signatories and increase rates to local taxpayers.

"The lease concession agreement is designed to not affect anybody other than whatever would have happened under the agreements," countered Jerry Snyder, Allentown's solicitor, at the November meeting.

Both Marx and Schreiner expressed reservations about the future of the agreement.

"We have problems with this [agreement] on so many different fronts. Nothing is decided so it is difficult to determine how this will affect our rate payers in the future," said Schreiner. CWSA will continue to monitor the situation and present reports at its monthly meetings.

Also during the meeting, Schreiner reported that Coplay appointed Hobel to another five-year term as a CWSA board member.