Special Lock Haven City Council meeting set for Monday on Suburban Water Authority concerns

LOCK HAVEN, PA – The Suburban Water Authority says it has “many questions” about Lock Haven’s water emergency declaration and will be looking for answers at a special meeting of City Council, set up after a Suburban call for such a meeting.

City Manager Greg Wilson has notified the media the meeting will be held in city council chambers on Monday at 3 p.m., participants the city, Suburban and the Central Clinton County Water Filtration Authority (operators of the two systems’ water filtration plant); the purpose, according to the meeting announcement, to “discuss a potential emergency water source project” with the latter two entities.

The meeting follows the recent decision by city officials to declare the water use emergency and announce an expenditure of approximately a million dollars for temporary hook-ups on the city’s new wells in Wayne Township, given the low water volume in the city’s Ohl and Keller reservoirs.

According to an Oct. 18 letter from Jack Peters, Suburban Water Authority chairman, “There are many questions to be addressed, including the construction, operation, and last but not least, the cost and who will bear that cost.” Peters also wrote that both Suburban and the Filtration Authority have gone through a similar situation in the past and “may provide valuable input and advise.”

The longtime Suburban chairman also called for a discussion on remaining water supply improvements, specifically the current schedule for design and construction, and anticipated future funding requests. He wrote that information is needed to plan long-term rate requirement projections. Another question, according to Peters, is how the emergency source funding may impact “the current design/construction schedule and funding schedule.”

The Suburban Authority asked for a joint meeting as soon as possible.

According to information at city council’s Oct. 16 meeting, the city would be seeking well use approval through an emergency permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection. Council directed the City Engineer, Gwin Dobson & Forman, to engineer the emergency connection to the city system which serves customers from both the Lock Haven and Suburban systems. As announced at that meeting, it is hoped approval will be received and the new water source in use by mid-to-late November.