COAL TOWNSHIP - The city of Shamokin wants a meeting to discuss the enforcement of state mandate that prohibits runoff from rain gutters from entering the sanitary sewer system.
The Shamokin-Coal Township Joint Sewer Authority board considered a request from Shamokin City solicitor H. Robert Mattis for scheduling a public meeting over a proposed storm water ordinance that forces residents to disconnect the gutters from the sanitary sewer system.
Mattis told authority solicitor James Zurick that the city "could be opening themselves up for liability" if they pass the ordinance.
"They are looking for a public meeting, hosted by us, to include the city, the authority, Coal Township and the Department of Environmental Protection to discuss the matter with residents," Zurick said.
Board member Michael Carpenter couldn't understand why the authority needed to be involved.
"If it's their problem with the ordinance and they want DEP there, why do we have to set it up?" Carpenter asked.
Board member Phil Zalar said he can't understand why Coal Township, which has always passed the ordinance, would be included based on a recent check of properties.
"Out of the 923 accounts in Coal Township we checked, only 18 were non-compliant and there were still eight where we couldn't gain access to the property," Zalar said. "That is less than two percent that haven't complied. We have sent them certified letters and will send them to the magistrate."
The board directed Zurick to notify the city that the authority will have representation at the meeting, but believes the city should schedule it.
In other business, the board rejected all bids to replace the roof on the authority's office building. Four bids were received for the project, ranging from $20,750 to $31,219, but no exact specifications were received as to what the prices include.
"We need to get a set of specs and rebid, so we can compare apples to apples," Zalar said.
The operations committee consisting of Darwin Tobias, Zalar and Carpenter will meet with the authority's engineer to go over specifications.
