Let the people decide
By DAVID WARGO
An interesting development has occurred within the borough of Summit Hill in the past month. On one side is the Summit Hill Borough Council, which has announced that they would like to see the water authority dissolved and absorbed into the borough as a department. On the other side of the coin, the water authority wants to remain a somewhat independent entity. The real driving force between the two are resources both financial and personnel.
The water authority is responsible for the water lines, water quality and delivery of water to the borough. All in all, the people of Summit Hill have had a pretty good deal when it comes to water rates. A look at neighboring Lansford and its authority shows rates that are at least more than twice what Summit Hill residents pay. In fact, most municipal authorities charge more for this necessary commodity than Summit Hill, which leads me to believe the authority has historically been a decent steward of its resources and customers.
Our lines have been maintained with little outside help to date. While the authority has approached PENNVEST, the commonwealth's authority for infrastructure development over the years for loans, they have been repeatedly rejected. It is because the state believes residents in Summit Hill do not pay enough for water. This is a crock.
The state will not loan Summit Hill money because they are too efficient and can maintain their solvency without soaking the residents (pun intended).
If anything, we all should be angry about this little extortion ploy in that the state has told the authority to raise its rates in order for them to loan the authority money regardless of their ability to pay for a loan. That to me is disgusting politics.
This isn't why the borough wants the authority. When I was on council 10 years ago, there was talk about taking over the authority because certain council members believed the authority was financially well-off.
They were not looking at the quarter million dollar outlay it would take to replace just a few blocks of water lines. When the authority and the borough moved into the new building, there was sniping that the authority employees should help maintain the property. This animosity may compose part of the core of what is leading this charge.
Any money the authority might or might not have is already committed to the infrastructure of the community and should remain separate from the borough, not incorporated into it.
The borough has just come out ahead on some loans and some financial wizardry thanks to our council. Now is not the time to take control of an entity because in the short-term it looks good. There should be a great deal of discussion and examination before we just plunge headlong into changing the current state of affairs which has successfully lasted for over five decades. Perhaps it is the right thing to do or maybe it is not, but what is the rush? There should be discussions and dialogue. The shoot-from-the-hip, rush, rush attitude of such a decision is precisely why it should be questioned.
There is no hurry unless someone is not being honest. In fact, this affects the residents of Summit Hill so I believe if it is legal then you, the borough council, should let the residents of the borough decide whether you should take control of the authority. If the council is so driven to take it over, then I as a Summit Hill resident demand that this question be put on the primary ballot, let the people decide what to do and let the chips fall where they may. Let's see how open the council truly is to public opinion. Convince us.
