At Tuesday’s meeting, the Bradford Sanitary Authority held its reorganization and heard about some problems at the wastewater treatment plant.
Executive Director Steve Disney said, “Security surveillance cameras at the wastewater treatment plant recorded an incident of property damage that occurred to land areas at the plant. Local law enforcement agencies were notified and the party which caused the damage was found.”
The person responsible is working with Foster Township Police and the authority to schedule repair activities to the BSA grounds once weather conditions improve in the spring.
He also detailed issues the plant has been having with the sequencing batch reactors, the equipment chosen and installed by Bob Cummins Construction when the plant was renovated. The SBR is at the core of an ongoing lawsuit between the Sanitary Authority and Cummins Construction, as detailed in The Era on Nov. 27, 2024.
According to Disney on Tuesday, “the wastewater plants Sequencing Batch Reactors, chosen and installed by Bob Cummins Construction during the Phase II upgrades continue to be plagued by poor performance and operational issues. The SBRs are having to be frequently bypassed due to the cold temperatures.
He continued, “The cold temperatures negatively impact the movement of the SBR decanters, causing them to freeze and fault out. Thankfully the authority has skilled operators and technicians able to utilize their unique troubleshooting skills.”
Authority staff found that “water is infiltrating into electrical wire flex conduit and freezing, causing the wires running inside the conduit to break, creating intermittent issues and finally shorting out,” Disney said. “This will require the authority’s crew to change out all of the flexible conduit runs with more robust material.
“Additional SBR issues causing disruptions and faults are communication issues with the SBR main controls,” he continued. “Again, by utilizing our BSA employee expertise, their troubleshooting revealed a serial cable between the (programmable logic controller) and PC for the (reactors) caused a temporary loss of communication between the units. Signals then had to be rerouted through alternate means until this was reset and restored.”
In other business, during the reorganizational portion of the meeting, Robert Esch was named chairman of the board, Ernie Clark vice chairman, Norm Strotman treasurer and Tim Roff secretary. Brad Preston will serve as assistant secretary, and Kris Goll as assistant treasurer.
The board appointed Robert Saunders as solicitor, with three firms as special counsel: Morgan, Lewis and Bockius LLP, Salzmann Hughes PC and Cozen O’Connor.
The board will continue with Ken Kane of Generations Forestry as forester.
Committees were named as well. The Budget & Finance Committee: Norm Strotman and Kris Goll; Personnel & Safety Committee: Bob Esch and Fred Proper; Litigation Committee: Bob Esch and Ernie Clark; BSA/BCWA/City Joint Committee: Robert Esch and Norm Strotman.
In other business, Disney said Pennhills Resources delayed commencement of its gas main installation until spring due to a scheduling issue and a seasonal stream crossing permit restriction.
For the meter replacement project, low-interest PENNVEST loans were announced Wednesday that will fund the entire project.
In his executive director’s report, Disney said employee John Eakin successfully passed his CDL exam.
Regarding delinquencies, overall, sewer rates decreased slightly while stormwater delinquency rates remained steady in December.
“Mr. and Mrs. Yohe at 83 Jerome Ave. Extension paid off their account in full. The check has cleared and the planned sheriff sale will be canceled,” Disney said. “The Authority is also proceeding with sending Mr. Matthew M. Johnston’s property located at 21 Bagley Ave. to sheriff sale. The authority is awaiting the date to be scheduled. Matthew M. Johnston owes $7,244.65 on water, $7,635.66 on sewer and $1,511.59 on stormwater for a total balance of $16,391.90.”
Regarding operations, Disney reminded that buried asset assessments and root cutting activities are all weather dependent during the winter months. The cleaning and vacuum trucks cannot operate with temperatures at or below 32 degrees.
He said authority crews have been answering periodic sewer related calls and finding most issues are on the property owners sewer lateral in which the owner needs to seek the services of a private plumber.
During 2024, the authority completed a nearly 4-year project involving the cleaning, televising and assessing of the city’s stormwater system. In the system, a total of 24.2 miles was assessed, including 1,249 catch basins and 264 stormwater manholes.
In regard to individual system assessments completed in the calendar year 2024, the field crew performed assessments on just over 10 miles of the sanitary main including 243 manholes and 41,900 lineal feet. In the stormwater system, just shy of 8 miles were assessed, including 365 catch basins and 61 manholes.
