TimesLeader.com

Nuangola tables request for change in sewer plan

IAN CAMPBELL Times Leader Correspondent

NUANGOLA – Borough council Tuesday tabled a request for what Nuangola Sewer Authority engineers Quad 3 called a minor amendment to the borough’s Act 537 sewer plan.

The engineers wanted changes to the plan as it impacted Blytheburn Road, North End Road, Woodland Acres and Williams Street.

But council felt the changes would likely need the approvals of funding and environmental agencies considering the scope of the work and its proximity to wetlands in the borough.

Council also noted that the responsibility and the costs of the additional work, estimated to be about $6,500 plus expenses, also needed to be sorted out between the council and the sewer authority.

Rice Township residents present at the meeting also raised concerns about the fact that none of those authorities had been able to review the route the line was taking between the borough and the Mountain Top Joint Sewer Authority collection point because the route had not been on any of the plans when they had been presented for approval.

Five Rice Township property owners have been advised that the Nuangola Sewer Authority plans to take part of their land in an eminent domain proceeding to connect the system with the collection point.

The fact that no public input on that part of the plan had been possible for the public appeared to surprise borough attorney Cynthia Ray, as did the statement by Councilman John Kochan, who represents the borough on the authority, that members of the authority had been holding questionable meetings with Quad 3 that were not open to the public and not properly advertised.

“I only learned about the meeting when they (other authority members) talked about something changing since then,” he said.

Council will be holding another meeting Dec. 30 to formalize the setting of a 0.444 real estate millage rate, and also to review any response from the engineers regarding the sewer line change request.