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Sunday, June 15, 2003

By Ken McCarthy

Western Butler County Authority officials say they have no idea when the Butler Auto Auction will pay its sewer tap-in fee, and customers will continue to foot the bill until it does.

	Issue at a Glance The Western Butler County Authority is facing a financial squeeze from three sides at once. THE PLAYERS: The authority, Butler Auto Auction, state government, the state Department of Environmental Protection. THE PROS: Wastewater is still going down drains in the Zelienople area. THE CONS: The authority lost state funding, can't collect an expected tap-in fee from the auction, and has to pay to nurture minnows for the DEP. WHAT'S NEXT: About $4 per month extra from an average customer, thanks to the first rate hike since 1989.

Paul Kremer, authority manager, said last week there has been no movement on getting the auto auction to pay the $180,000 tap-in fee it owes for work finished last year.

The authority completed sewer lines from Route 19 in Jackson east along Glade Run to the auction site on Route 528 five months earlier than expected last year, but auction officials have told the authority they are not yet prepared to tap in.

Kremer said the auction paid the $400,000 bill for construction of the line.

But because the authority was counting on the tap-in fee to pay for projects it has planned for this year, it was forced to take out a bank loan, Kremer said.

The authority also is operating without another $110,000 in revenue it expected because of state budget cuts.

Kremer said Gov. Ed Rendell, in his preliminary budget, proposed eliminating the Act 339 State Subsidy Operations Grant program that had been in place since 1953 to help sewage treatment plants offset annual operating and maintenance expenses.

The Republican-controlled Legislature quickly voted the budget into law, and negotiations since have not restored the sewage treatment money.

Those two factors forced the authority to raise its fees last month for the first time since 1989.

"I really hate to have to raise user fees after all this time," authority board Chairman Claire Gallagher said. "But with the loss of this revenue, we really have no choice."

The authority's rates rose from $2.55 per thousand gallons of water used to $3.33, meaning the average customer using about 5,000 gallons a month will pay nearly $4 more for it.

Auto auction officials could not be reached for comment but have previously said they would like to wait until the facilities that will use the sewer line are actually in place before they tap in and pay the fee.

Only a temporary trailer and outhouse are on the property now. The company has a holding tank and trucks wastewater to a treatment plant in Monaca for processing.

The auto auction is using the 135-acre site at Route 528 and Interstate 79 to park cars for its Thursday auctions.

The auction's parent company, Cox Enterprises Inc., of Atlanta, has yet to make a final determination on plans for the site.

Gallagher said if the Act 339 program is reinstated or the bank loan is paid off, the authority will re-evaluate its rates.

He said the authority's engineer, Tom Hartwig, has written to state Sen. Jane Claire Orie, R-McCandless, and state Rep. Dick Stevenson, R-Mercer, objecting to the elimination of the program.

The authority also approached Jackson officials about forcing the auction to tap in, but Supervisors Ralph DiLuigi said the township has no role in the matter.

The Western Butler County Authority serves Zelienople, Harmony, Jackson and Lancaster.

Based on Market Street in Zelienople, it maintains nearly 70 miles of sanitary sewer lines and has about 2,600 customers.

Ken McCarthy is a freelance writer.