ASHLAND - The chairman of the Ashland Area Municipal Authority's board of directors had questions and comments for the borough council Wednesday about the acceptance of the resignation of the borough manager,
AAMA Chairman Lawrence Madden spoke during the public portion of the council meeting, asking how the absence of former borough Manager Thomas Joyce will affect ongoing water authority projects.
"Since you saw fit to let Tom go, it leaves a lot of loose ends for us and for you, too, I imagine," Madden said. "One of our big projects is the (water) tank, which is (in) very poor shape. It was on the agenda to bring in a company that works on it periodically, but Tom was in contact with them."
The authority owns the reservoir and water treatment plant, located in Butler Township, and the water distribution system that serves Ashland and portions of Butler Township. The authority contracts with the borough to operate the system, do repairs and maintenance and for billing of customers. Joyce was involved in the management and was a contact person for outside contractors, with the authority board making the decisions on projects.
"The second thing is who is going to run the water plant," Madden said. "We would like to get some input on that to know what's going on. The third project is the dam upgrade, which seems to be get a good report from the engineer in one month and something in the negative at the next."
Madden switched hats from authority chairman to borough resident, questioning council's decision to not hire part-time borough clerk Angela Lyden as a full-time clerk, and then hiring Terri Paige, Girardville, as a 30-hour part-time clerk. Madden asked why an Ashland resident was not hired.
Council President Frederick Spieles said he needed to learn more about the situation about the repairs needed to the million-gallon storage tank that not only provides water to the town but also improves water pressure for the much of the higher sections.
"As for the water treatment plant, we had our workshop yesterday and had the owner of the management company come in," Spieles said, referring to M&B Environmental Inc., which is contracted to run the plant and provide the operator, William Miller.
M&B's current contract with the borough expires in January and the cost proposal for a new contract was much higher than the current one, prompting the borough to solicit new companies or consider hiring its own plant operator as a borough employee.
Spieles said that a revised contract proposal has been submitted that is much lower than the first one. Spieles said he plans to hold a special meeting with the water authority to discuss a new contract with M&B.
"During our regular December meeting, we'll make a decision on what we're going to do," Spieles said. "The owner really came down on the cost while still providing the same services. As for the dam, that is something between you and your engineer to work out."
Spieles then addressed the issue involving the clerk position.
"Council didn't want to hire a full-time person. I was against it, as was Pat (Cooney)," Spieles said. "We received about 20 applications, with three from Ashland. All three of them wanted full time. No another application was from Ashland. They came from all over. We feel we hired the best clerk that we could. Terri Paige started on Tuesday and in two days she has shown she can do the job. I'm sorry it didn't go Angie's way. I would have liked her on for full time."