Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on January 31, 2015

Between last July and October, the Oheb Zedeck Synagogue of Pottsville experienced a water leak in an underground pipe, and damages included a sewer bill that was more than it bargained for.

In November, the Greater Pottsville Area Sewer Authority considered adjusting the bill to the synagogues average rate. And at its first public meeting of the new year, held Wednesday, the authority did just that, giving the synagogue at 2400 West End Ave., Pottsville, a refund for the excess, $1,617.93.

The board agreed to refund part of their payment. We went back three years and averaged the sewer payments for that four-month period and took out the part of that payment caused by the water leak, Timothy R. Yingling, the authoritys executive director, said Thursday.

When the matter came before the board in November, Ian H. Lipton, authority chairman, said, I know periodically we have customers who have problems with pipes that fail for any number of reasons and the water goes into the ground.

But Edward M. Brennan, the authoritys solicitor, warned if a homeowner or another business has a similar situation you have to have the same consideration.

On Thursday, Yingling said the authority will deal with such matters on a case-by-case basis.

And they provided sufficient documentation showing this did not go into the sewer system, Yingling said.

The synagogue provided some evidence to support its case. It included letters from William G. Davidson, heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical contractor, Port Carbon, and Jeff Reber, superintendent at Mountain Valley Golf Course, Barnesville.

Mountain Valley Golf Course is responsible for the installation and maintenance of the sprinkler system the irrigates the lawn and shrubs of this facility. During the above period, and possibly earlier, two sprinkler heads malfunctioned causing a continual water leak that went unattended until the system was shut down the first week of November. None of this lost water entered the city sewer system as it either soaked into the ground or possibly flowed to the city stormwater outlet, Reber said in a letter to GPASA on Monday.

On Oct. 23, the synagogue contacted Davidson to evaluate the water leak.

Read the original here:

Pottsville sewer authority awards refund to synagogue

Category: Synagogue
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