The KBM Regional Authority board hopes for more success with its latest plan for reed beds at the wastewater treatment plant serving McAdoo borough and Kline and Banks townships.
After spending more than $200,000 last year to clean the beds, which reduce sludge in the system by 90 percent, the authority board hired a company this week to replace them.
Reed beds offer a natural method of keeping the system clear, but they must be cleaned or replanted every so often for the process to remain effective.
The authority is paying 7.5 cents a gallon to haul away sludge escaping the reed beds, and board members believe that has become too costly. The cost of removing sludge approached $70,000 in 2011 and nears $40,000 so far this year.
So at a special meeting held Monday, the board unanimously approved two contracts with Constructed Wetlands Group Inc. of Plainview, N.Y.
The first is a professional service agreement for $32,500 that spells out what is expected of the company, including planting five reed beds, maintaining them and allowing the authority's engineer to inspect them to ensure they meet federal Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.
A second contract costing $9,500 orders a biological process that involves refurbishing the existing reed bed facility.
Voting in favor were Chairman Charles J. Schalles, Ron Simasek, Andy Ulichny and Joe Stempko. Board members Bill Nice, Arleen Burgess and Dale Wesner were absent.
Last year, a company called WeCare Organics of New York cleaned the reed beds for more than $200,000.