At the March 16 meeting of Coplay-Whitehall Sewer Authority, Mike Pitcavage, from Endless Energy, offered his take on providing solar panels to the Eberhart Road pump station.

Pitcavage introduced Brian Wanamaker, from Diefenderfer Electric. Pitcavage said he would secure and install the panels, and Diefenderfer would do the electrical installation.

Endless Energy appeared before the board in a prior meeting and presented an estimated cost of $150,000 for the project.

“We made some changes and increased the size of the panels. With the new panels, we can serve 90 percent of the power needed by the pump station,” he said.

The new plan calls for fewer panels but higher wattage for the panels.

“With the new panels, we can expect 92-percent power output after 25 years. The other panels are estimated to be around 80 percent after 20 years,” Pitcavage said.

Based on electrical costs provided by CWSA General Manager David Harleman, the expected payback is in 11 to 12 years.

The updated technology comes at a price: The new estimated cost is up to $175,000.

For the project to meet CWSA’s requirements, there are numerous details to attend to. Darryl Jenkins, the authority’s engineer, will detail the specifications in a bid document.

“We have been working on the bid document, and we can release it yet this month,” he said.

The board expects to open the bid and award a contract at its next meeting, set for April 20.

“The best time to have these panels operating is when we get peak voltage, in the summer, so we want to get them installed during the peak time,” said CWSA Chairman John Schreiner.

Pitcavage indicated delivery and installation times would be tight, but he thought he could have everything up and running for the summer months.

Harold Newton stepped to the podium to present a request to the board to consider public sewer at a property owned by United Liberties Development on Mauch Chunk Road. The property is near Fellowship Community. The developer is looking to add 14 units on the property.

Newton asked the board for a public pump station on site, but that idea was summarily rejected. There is no gravity feed option from the property to CWSA’s main line on Schadt Road.

“That is an eight-inch main, and we don’t have any idea of what the flow is through the main,” Schreiner said.

What Schreiner did offer was an option to Newton and the developer: “We could split the cost of a flow meter study. It would benefit you and us because we don’t know how close to capacity we are with that line,” he said.

All parties agreed to the study, with an estimated cost of $5,000.

“We will run the study the whole way so we know there are no problems anywhere down the line,” Schreiner said.

Jenkins reported the Front Street project in Coplay continues to provide more than its share of challenges.

“Snow added to some of the delay. We now have so many cuts into the concrete substrate that there is a good possibility we will undermine the base,” he said. “We want to pulverize the concrete and set it up so we have a good solid base.”

The board agreed.

“We have the street open; we don’t want to go back in there. Let’s do it the best way,” Schreiner said.

Coplay Borough is going to help defray some of the additional cost. Curbs and sidewalks are a homeowner’s responsibility, but the borough is working on ways to keep the costs reasonable.

“We will fix what we break, but we want to look at the curbs on the other side of the street,” Schreiner said.