Water and wastewater issues in Bloomfield Borough are coming to a close as the borough makes progress to improve both ends of its water cycle, officials said.
The closing of the loop began last month with the official licensing — and ribbon cutting ceremony — of the new water treatment facility on Jeanne Fry Lane in Centre Twp., just east of the borough.
Borough water authority Chairman Ed Albright said the state Department of Environmental Protection cleared the facility for operations just a few days before the ribbon cutting ceremony on Sept. 18. The new facility both chemically treats and filters water from its new well at the same site. The well and facility construction was a project 10 years in the making.
With the well and treatment facility operational, the water authority has also advertised bids for construction of a pumping station at Talmudic University’s properties on North Carlisle Street, Albright said at the Oct. 5 council meeting. The university will be added to the borough water system with that connection.
“This is a huge accomplishment for the borough and the authority,” councilwoman Malinda Anderson said.
Additionally, an aging well at the Perry Village property has been closed and capped, Albright said. It is no longer a functioning part of the Bloomfield system, made unnecessary by the new well across the street. With the closing of that well, a consent order from the Susquehanna River Basin Commission has been lifted, too, he said.
The SRBC monitors and helps control water systems and the amounts they draw from both surface and ground water within the Susquehanna watershed, which includes Perry County and much of the middle swath of the state.
On the other side of the water systems, the borough is closing in on a final deal to take over the sewer pump station in the Lakeside neighborhood off Barnett Street.
Melanie Rowlands, the planning commission chairwoman, said it was recommending council approve a proposed subdivision plan that would give a portion of the land the station is on to the borough. The deal would let the owners have rights-of-way across the lot to access the other properties in Centre Twp. The subdivision would create two properties, divided at the borough/township line to simplify zoning and other issues.
Councilman Kevin Fitzpatrick, who has been a liaison with owners Roger Watson and Lisa Fraker, said other issues should be resolved at the property by this week. That included repairs to bring the pump station up to code and a phone line to the property.
Once an inspection certifies that, the borough would own and operate the sewer facility.
Garbage contract
Borough council approved a new garbage contract with Sylvester’s of Duncannon, the only bidder on the collection service. The three-year contract will have rates of $9.99 a month per unit for the first year and $10 for the next two years.
Council members said that rate was about $3 more per quarter compared to the current rates.
Tree trimming
The borough has hired James P. Shadow to do tree trimming on Main and Carlisle streets toward the end of October for $3,050. The service will not cost residents individual bills, but was necessary to cut tree branches out of the road rights-of-way. In past months, trucks moving through town were hitting the limbs that were overhanging roads.
In addition, trees near the intersection of Barnett Street and South Carlisle Street will be removed to improve line of site for motorists pulling out from Barnett, council said.
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