DUBOIS – On Monday night, Supervisor Kevin Salandra gave an update on discussions over a proposed joint municipal authority between Sandy Township and DuBois City.
There weren’t any decisions made in the ongoing matter. The next private meeting between the two municipalities will be held Thursday.
“I think we are getting close to seeing if it is feasible,” Salandra said.
At a previous meeting, Salandra presented the three options being considered to determine a municipality’s representation on the joint authority. The options were as follows:
- By relative amount of flow in each system. If every time Municipality A had three gallons of flow Municipality B had two gallons, then Municipality A would appoint three members and Municipality B would appoint two members.
- By relative worth of assets either sold or leased to the joint authority. If for every $3 worth of equipment and infrastructure Municipality A gave to the authority Municipality B gave $2, then Municipality A would get three members to appoint and Municipality B would get two members to appoint.
- By relative number of customers. If Municipality A had three customers for every two customers Municipality B had, then Municipality A would get to appoint three members and Municipality B would get to appoint two.
Salandra revealed that if Sandy Township and DuBois City went by relative customers, the city should get six appointed representatives to the authority to Sandy Township’s two possible representatives.
To have an odd number of authority members, Salandra said City Manager John “Herm” Suplizio suggested that the city could forfeit a representative and drop down to a 5 to 2 split.
According to Salandra, if the joint committee went by the other options – flow or cash value of assets – they were even more heavily weighted in DuBois City’s favor.
“Was there any discussion on Falls Creek or Sykesville being part of [the joint authority?],” asked Supervisor Jim Jeffers.
According to Salandra, these municipalities’ officials haven’t been approached about it yet. However, this wasn’t being ruled out.
He said it was the opinion of city and township officials to see if it was possible for them to have a joint authority together. Then, they would explore the feasibility of others.
“I still have a rough time with five members from the city and two from the…,” commented Supervisor Dave Sylvis. “Does anyone else have a fair allocation scheme we could use?” then asked Salandra.
Sylvis suggested that Falls Creek and Sykesville could be the tie-breaking votes instead of dropping DuBois City from six members to five.
City Engineer Chris Nasutti, who was in the audience, explained when this came up, it was stated that each community would only get one appointed member.
“I think it is something that needs to be investigated a little bit more,” said Jeffers.
Sandy Township had an executive session after the public meetings to discuss the possible Aqua PA filtration plant in Treasure Lake. Township Solicitor Greg Kruk announced a decision would be made at the Oct. 1 meeting.