During the Coplay Whitehall Sewer Authority meeting July 17, General Manager Matt Harleman brought up the topic of reaching a final resolution for Lehigh County Authority’s Act 537 plan revision. The plan requires each municipality to have an official sewage facilities plan that addresses the existing and future sewage disposal needs of the municipality.

This prompted a lengthy discussion by the board with worries that the new regional plan will override CWSA’s Act 537 plan adopted in 1981.

Most of the concerns were with the way the new document is worded, plus the fact that the list of commitments CWSA had some exception to is not included in this final resolution. CWSA’s goal is to stick with the 1981 agreement it currently has with the city of Allentown and LCA.

After much controversy, the board agreed it needs to be looked at much closer before signage. The board asked Attorney Andrew Schantz to read and understand the current document and return with a recommendation. CWSA is being asked to return the agenda by August or September at the latest.

The topic of the currently available capacity allowed by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection spurred another debate among the CWSA board, with controversies regarding the gallons-per-day allotment.

Harleman mentioned there are no current updates on the CWSA office generator project for the past month or so because the excavator tank had equipment go down. Updates will continue soon.

Chairman James Hahn cited information on the notes from the KISS (Klien’s Island Sewer System) meeting July 10 and also the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System letter to CWSA.