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Union Twp. sewer authority’s decision to disband accepted
No public discussion of the move took place before the vote, one authority member said.
NEW CASTLE, Pa.— Union Township Supervisors have accepted the Union Sewer and Disposal Authority’s decision to disband.
Supervisors Pat Angiolelli and Robert Eckert voted in favor of the motion at a special supervisors’ meeting Thursday. The third supervisor, Clair Damon, resigned from the board Jan. 7 and did not attend the meeting.
The Disposal Authority had voted Jan. 11 to disband. The vote was five in favor, three abstentions and two against the motion.
Three sewer-authority members who were among the five who did not vote to disband attended Thursday’s supervisors’ meeting. They are Ed Perrino, Leo Carlin and Don Pagley. Perrino, who voted “no,” told supervisors that at last week’s meeting, he asked for a reason for the motion to disband and didn’t get one. He said he might have voted for the motion if an explanation had been given.
Another member who voted “no,” Carlin said authority member Randy Conti stated that disbanding would save money, but when asked where the savings would be, did not explain. Perrino also asked why there was no discussion before the vote on the motion, and Carlin said member Tom Cumberledge replied, “We are discussing it now.”
None of the five who voted in favor of the motion attended Thursday’s meeting.
Only one of the five could be reached afterward to comment. Dale Schmidt said Saturday he voted to dissolve the authority because it wasn’t making any progress. He said some members were unwilling to spend any money for extension of sewer lines to help developers with projects in the township. He cited the hotel development behind GetGo on U.S. Route 224, which he said is “on hold,” as well as the U.S. Route 422 corridor as examples of where development has been stymied. He said he believes that the township supervisors will do a better job handling such requests. Schmidt said he could not speak to any of the other members’ reasons for their vote.
Carmen Merilillo referred a request for comment to Atty. Michael Bonner, who is solicitor for the sewer authority. A call to Bonner for comment Jan. 12 was not returned.
A person at Cumberledge’s residence said he was unlikely to return the call because of a family emergency.
A message left at Dave Prestopine’s residence was not returned, and Randy Conti has an unlisted number.
Carlin and Perrino said the five who voted in favor came into the meeting ready to vote on a motion that the others knew nothing about.
When asked whether the open-meetings law could have been violated if a voting majority had discussed the matter while not in public session, Supervisor Robert Eckert replied that simply because five members voted for it without any discussion did not prove anything.
“Maybe they all had the same idea,” he said.
“I think you insult our intelligence,” Perrino replied. He added that in all his years on the sewer authority, he had never seen a meeting delayed to wait for a late arrival. But he said the night the vote was taken to dissolve, the meeting was held up to wait for Carmen Merolillo, one of those who voted in favor of disbanding.
Township Solicitor Jason Medure said that the request for dissolution now goes to the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. If it is approved, it will then be recorded by the Lawrence County Recorder of Deeds.
Medure said that all steps will be taken to comply with the law in transferring the assets, liabilities and employees of the sewer authority to township jurisdiction and that the authority’s debts will be paid.
Eckert commented that Union is the only township in Lawrence County that still had a sewer authority. He and Angiolelli said they do not forsee any immediate changes in sewer operations. Its three full-time employees, which include two office workers and one maintenance worker, will continue to work out of the authority’s building but will now be under township jurisdiction. He said he believes the sewer department will be run more effectively by supervisors who are at the township building every day instead of meeting once monthly as the sewer authority did. Angiolelli said he does not believe that residents’ sewer bills will be affected by the change.
Though Angiolelli said he did not have the figures yet on the authority’s assets or debts, Perrino said after the meeting that the authority has $2.4 million it won in a lawsuit against a manufacturer of sewer pipe. He said the money is in a trust and can be used only for capital improvements to the sewer system, repairs or to reduce user fees.
According to Vindicator files, at the 2004 sewer authority reorganizational meeting, authority members defeated a motion to expand the board from six to 11 members.
Stephen Galizia, who was then a supervisor, told the sewer authority board at the time that if they did not reconsider their action, he would do whatever was necessary to remove the current members, according to a memorandum filed by then-township Solicitor Gabriel Cilli.
Cilli’s memo stated that the earlier motion was then rescinded, and the board was expanded by the authority.
The members who voted last week to disband the authority were all appointed after the expansion of the board. Those members included Randy Conti, Dale Schmidt, Carmen Merolillo, Tom Cumberledge, and Dave Prestopine.
Angiolelli said Thursday that the reason for the 2004 expansion of the sewer authority was that the authority was having problems reaching a quorum at its meetings.
UNION TOWNSHIP
Union Township Supervisors are asking township residents interested in filling the unexpired term of Supervisor Clair Damon Jr. to contact them at the municipal building or submit a r sum .
Damon submitted his resignation Jan. 7, citing personal reasons, and the resignation was accepted at a special meeting Thursday. Supervisors have 30 days from Jan. 7 to name a replacement to fill the two years remaining in Damon’s six-year term.
Candidates must have lived in the township for one year and be registered to vote.
Union Township officials