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SHICKSHINNY — Mayor Beverly Moore and members of the borough council criticized the Shickshinny Sewer Authority Tuesday for not providing requested information, including the authority’s by-laws.
Council members Kathleen McLaughlin and Kevin Morris joined Moore in criticizing the authority.
“What do we have to do, file a right-to-know request to get information that should be readily available to us?” Moore said on Tuesday after the authority failed to comply with a request for its by-laws at an April 30 work session. “In fact, I move right now that council act to have the by-laws presented in a timely manner.”
Council President Rosalie Whitebread agreed.
“We want and we need authority information,” she said.
Morris, however, took a more skeptical view.
“They do what they want to without any accountability,” he said.
Solicitor John Pike said he attempted to get the information with a written request sent to authority Solicitor David Schwager.
McLaughlin said that when she attended an authority meeting in April, she was barely acknowledged and generally was treated rudely.
The matter of the authority became another focal point for council with the recent death of member Dale P. Hess. Council voted to advertise for candidates to succeed Hess and fill the remainder of his term.
Since council doesn’t have a copy of the by-laws, it was estimated that authority members are appointed for a 5-year term and are paid $50 per meeting. At present, the authority consists of Gil Gleco, chairman; Rick Noss; Clarence Lewis and Councilman Michael Steeber.
The authority is currently involved in a $4.1 million, expansion-and-renovation project.
At the same time the council voted to advertise for a new borough engineer and for a person to serve on the Uniformed Construction Code board. It also is seeking a firm, or individual, to perform cleaning duties in the borough building.
The council heard a report from Reilly Associates Engineers that a project to develop a parking area on flood mitigation land between Main Street and Susquehanna Avenue is moving ahead. The council was told that engineers are prepared to submit their plans to PennDOT and once permits are granted, construction could begin in the fall of 2015.
The plan includes 11 angled parking spaces and a proposed 8-foot-wide planting strip.