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HARVEYS LAKE — Borough residents packed a council meeting Tuesday night, pleading with council members to reverse the newly implemented stormwater contract with the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority.
Partnering with the authority means residents must pay the controversial fee being charged across the county as part of a federally mandated initiative to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay.
Council voted to join with the WVSA plan near the end of 2018.
According to newly elected council president Daniel Blaine, the council had three options to choose to satisfy the mandate: WVSA, the Dallas Area Municipal Authority (DAMA) or creating its own entity.
Blaine opened the meeting by offering his opinion on the contract, saying that out of the borough’s options he believed WVSA was the best choice.
Councilwoman Michell’e Boice disagreed with Blaine, stating the borough has been in compliance with stormwater regulations and will be until mid 2020. She added residents will likely not see their fees in action locally.
“We are in compliance. I don’t know how many other communities can claim that,” she said. “We did not have to join Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority.”
The 90-minute meeting brought roughly 20 residents to the podium, many voicing the same questions and complaints over and over.
Resident Andrew Marko, of Halowich Road, doesn’t understand why he is being billed for a property that has no runoff due to the installation of a well, pond and more.
“Every bit of water that falls on my property, our rain gutters go underground to the pond. In fact, the runoff that comes from Halowich Road runs onto my property, so maybe I should be collecting the fee,” he said, drawing laughter from the crowd.
Council members told residents concerned that they are being unfairly billed that they should fill out an application for reassessment to have fees possibly readjusted for their properties.
The WVSA board decided Tuesday to eliminate all appeal fees for those challenging the authority’s calculations.
‘Why would we?’
But residents weren’t the only ones concerned with the fees.
Tensions rose between Harveys Lake Sewer Authority Chair Judi Spagnuolo and council’s Blaine over stormwater fees for several pump stations.
Spagnuolo asked council who will pay the bills for the 14 pump stations that surround the lake, and questioned why they were being billed at all.
“The sewer board is also getting billed for every pump station, so where’s that money going to come from?” she asked. “We had a (fixed) budget, but when this bill came in — we weren’t expecting it. Why would we?”
Blaine said council would be unable to cover the authority’s fees.
Residents later asked Blaine if he would reconsider the contract with WVSA if given the choice to do it over. He responded by saying that he truly feels council made the best call for Harveys Lake and its residents and, if the vote came around again, he would still vote yes.
And he did.
Boice made a motion at the meeting’s end to pull out of the contract. But the vote ultimately failed.