During the Coplay Whitehall Sewer Authority monthly meeting Feb. 19, Whitehall Township Commissioner Ken Snyder addressed the board with concerns about an email received from Lehigh County Authority. The packet says the western Lehigh County pretreatment plant near Fogelsville will no longer be viable by 2028. This means the plant will no longer be able to function due to a shortfall of approximately $5 million a year.

LCA is looking for local counties and municipalities to support the shortfalls. CWSA General Manager Matt Harleman mentioned there is a defined list of municipalities that are users or businesses within its boundaries that use the pretreatment plant.

Whitehall and Coplay do not use the pretreatment plant so CWSA’s position has always been that it does not owe any money for repairs or upgrades at the plant.

Chairman James Hahn noted he has been on this board since 2011, and LCA has always gotten behind when it came to capacity. Over the years, they’ve proposed many plans to correct the issue, but none came to fruition. CWSA’s stance is that it holds no responsibility to assist in LCA’s shortfall.

In other business, Hahn brought up three important KISS (Kline’s Island Sewer System) correspondence items, including an agenda signatory meeting Feb. 12, ideas for discussion in January 2026 and tech subcommittee assignments in February 2026.

Harleman mentioned he is not listed as being on any of the KISS subcommittees; however, he’ll be working on the SBM and surcharge subcommittees.

Harleman also brought up the upcoming Pennsylvania Rural Water Conference March 23-26 at Penn State, saying CWSA has reservations and board members are encouraged to attend if desired.

Hahn mentioned they received a thank-you letter from the borough of Coplay for the recent CWSA donation.

CWSA Community Affairs Officer Joseph Marx said there are two new CWSA employees being hired. One is Andrea Horn as a new office manager, and the other is Brandon Baumann in maintenance. Both were approved by the board.

Attorney Andrew Schantz spoke on resolution 388 regarding CWSA board member salaries. Effective Jan. 1, positions of chairman, vice chairman, secretary, treasurer and community affairs/public relations officer will be $400 per month, and the assistant secretary and assistant treasurer rates will be $350 a month.