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Kane council to consider sewer radio link plan |
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Written by Publisher
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Tuesday, 17 November 2009 |
The Kane Borough Council rather than the Kane Borough Sewer Authority will consider the fate of a proposal for a radio link with sewage pumping stations.
This switch was announced Monday by local attorney Erik Ross during the authority’s meeting at the borough building. Ross is the solicitor for the authority and had been previously asked for input on the proposal.
Bressler Communications of Kane has offered to provide the authority with a radio link with seven sewage pumping stations at a monthly fee of $700 or $8,400 a year for five years.
The authority now has dedicated telephone lines to each of the sewage pumping stations in Wetmore Township. The lines often malfunction due to weather or fallen tree branches and send false alarms. A report prepared in September sets the annual fee at $8,507 for telephone communications to the pumping stations as well as overtime for responses to the false alarms.
Because the radio link with the pumping stations is considered a service, Ross earlier indicated that the authority might be able to enter into the contract with Bressler without seeking bids.
Upon further investigation, Ross said Monday that the proposed pact “really is a borough contract” that would need to be reviewed and considered by the borough council rather than the council-appointed volunteer authority.
Ross said council still may be able to award the contract without seeking formal bids.
“You’re not buying equipment,” Ross pointed out.
The authority asked Ross to contact Tony Alfieri, a Smethport attorney who serves as the solicitor for the borough. Ross said he would write a letter to Alfieri to explain the proposed contract with Bressler Communications.
Matt Bressler and Lowell Watts, both representing Bressler Communications, attended Monday’s meeting of the authority. Bressler said his proposal simply calls for “changing the transmission path” for creating a link with the seven sewage pumping stations. He said his proposal does away with phone lines and creates a communications link via radio waves.
In other business, the authority:
n Announced plans to meet at 3 p.m. next Tuesday at the borough building to review sewer figures in the tentative Kane borough budget.
The meeting is open to the public.
n Agreed to seek bids to sell a free-standing back-flow preventer unit, which has been seldom used by the authority in the flushing of sewer lines. The borough vacuum truck now is used for flushing lines.
The authority set a minimum bid of $1,000 for the unit, which is housed at the Pine Street sewage treatment plant.
n Received notice that the United Parcel Service (UPS) on Route 6 in Wetmore Township east of Kane is interested in connecting to the sewage system. UPS is about 2,000 feet from the nearest sewer line on Old Smethport Road, according to Jim Salvamoser, chairman of the five-member authority.
n Received notice that the authority has made its semi-annual payment of $211,133 to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for debt service for the re-construction of its sewage treatment plants. The twice-a-year payments will continue until 2036, according to Ed Sleeman, a Kane certified public accountant (CPA) who serves as the non-voting treasurer for the authority.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 10 December 2009 )
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