LSA NEWS – WINTER 2010
Rate Changes Effective January 1, 2010
Sewer: The Quarterly Rate for 1 EDU (Equivalent Dwelling Unit, or typical household) is reduced to $80 per quarter from the previous $102 per quarter. The Authority has now paid off the original loan used to build the system back in 1989. This represents a decrease of 21.6%, or a savings of $22 a quarter, or $88 a year for the average residential customer. This rate will be reflected in the first quarter billing which will go out in early February. Most residential customers pay for one EDU (Equivalent Dwelling Unit) each quarter.
Water: The Rate per 1000 Gallons, and the standard Customer Charge, are increased 4% to cover inflationary increases since the rates were last adjusted at the beginning of 2008. A typical residential customer with a 5/8-inch meter and using 15,000 gallons of water over 3 months, will see an increase in their quarterly bill of $4.17, or roughly 4.6 cents a day. The first billing reflecting the new rate structure will occur in the bills received in the first week in May, for the usage period from January - March.
Letters to Water and Sewer Customers were mailed out in December and can be viewed by clicking on the links below:
Water Letter
Sewer Letter
Sewer System Pamphlet1
1Distributed to Sewer Customers
Main Replacement Project - McCloskey Avenue
During July, the Authority installed some 1180 feet of 6-inch cement-lined Ductile Iron Pipe to replace 1940's vintage 3-inch pipe on McCloskey and Walters Avenue (east to Strauss) in Wydnor. A new fire hydrant was added to the system at the intersection of Strauss and Walter, providing fire protection to the area.
This is part of a continuing infrastructure replacement and renewal program.
Installing Main on Walter Approaching Strauss
The Authority Administrator (Gar W. Davidson) and Engineer (J. Bradley Youst) made a presentation to the Hellertown Borough Council and answered questions at their June 15, 2009 Council Meeting.
A series of issues that had been raised previously by Borough Council, and then addressed by the Authority in a letter this March, were discussed and the specific issues were clarified as needed.
Glenn Higbie, Manager of the Hellertown Borough Authority also spoke in favor of the proposed project, which would ultimately provide public sewer service to 400+ customers in the Hellertown Park, Leithsville, Bingen and Bingen East (between Bingen and the Creekside Shopping Center) Areas.
The project would be focused on providing public sewer service to existing, older neighborhoods with smaller lots, etc. and represents the logical next step in complementing the original public sewer system which built by the Township in 1989.
There was a general consensus on the concept and the responses given by the Authority. The Borough Council voted 4-2 in favor of allowing the development of a tentative easement agreement through the Hellertown-owned properties and parklands to the west of Hellertown proper. If this can be accomplished and an agreement executed by the parties over the coming months, the next step would be to refine the route by doing a series of core borings to further refine the desired route in late fall.
While there is much more work to do, this was a critical first step and reflects cooperation between Hellertown Borough and the Lower Saucon and Hellertown Borough Authorities.
A good discussion of the history of this project, the areas that it is intended to serve and the tentative route is included on this hyperlink: Presentation. It should be noted that this is a rather large (3.4 MB) file, which can be viewed online with a high speed cable connection, but might be very slow using a dial-up connection (phone modem). A copy will be available at the Authority offices for anyone wishing to view it directly.
The Authority will continually update this website to keep residents apprised of progress on the project. Once we have a tentative gravity route defined and approved with Hellertown, the Authority will bring the plan back to the Lower Saucon Township Council, who are in charge of Sewage Facilities Planning for the Township and would review and initiate the formal Act 537 Plan Review Process. That process will involve a series of public meetings, technical and environmental reviews and a full review by the Department of Environmental Protection.
Consumer Confidence (CCR) / Water Quality Report
The annual CCR Report for calendar year 2008 was mailed Monday June 15, 2009 to all Lower Saucon Authority water customers.
It describes water quality test results taken by Authority technicians and our water supplier, the City of Bethlehem, within the system throughout 2008.
A copy of the report is currently attached to this website and can be accessed by following the highlighted link above. It is an Adobe Acrobat PDF file and can be read using the free Acrobat Reader available online at www.adobe.com. Customers desiring an extra paper copy should contact the Authority office.
The report, required by a 1996 amendment to the Clean Water Act, provides detailed information on the source of the water in the system and testing results / water quality in the system.
Allan Cheung and Ken Niewoehner joined the Board in March. Allan replaces Mary Curtin and Ken replaces Dr. Robert Russo. We welcome Allan and Ken and extend our heartfelt thanks to Mary and Dr. Russo for their many years of dedicated service.
The Authority donated a used copier to the Se-Wy-Co Fire Company in May.