So, who is really telling the truth about conditions in Quakertown? Woldow or borough council? This column, or the in-their-dreams newsletter which council sent to all Qtown residents?
Citizens of Missouri have an easy solution: "Show Me". The state motto. Show me the documents. Show me the proof. The problem for citizens of Quakertown is that council's motto has become "Don't Show Them". The elected leaders have ignored my challenge to reveal everything in public, in an open council meeting, for everyone to see.
But it didn't take long for the truth to come out. I warned that, despite the 104% water rate increase, the costs of renovating the century-old borough utility system would exceed what council had planned, and lead to additional increases. Council responded that "The borough has not had one discussion on this topic", and "Mr. Woldow's insinuations are wrong, and an insult to our integrity".
You decide. Less than three weeks later, on June 28, Councilman Donald Rosenberger announced that "the cost for the first two years (of the water/sewer replacement program) came in $750,000 higher than expected". Borough Manager David Woglom added that if the increases continued, the project would be scaled back.
That would be one way of proving me wrong - instead of enacting the needed increases which I (correctly) predicted, just don't do the work. But the borough's infrastructure isn't getting any younger, and someday soon you will be paying for the repairs, probably at a higher cost. This is exactly why the water and sewer problems exist today - deferred maintenance. Which is what I have said all along.
Underground Quakertown has been deteriorating for decades. The sewage treatment plant can accommodate about 4 million gallons per day. But, because groundwater and rainwater infiltrate the ancient sewer lines, even in dry times the plant must use its capacity on water that doesn't need treatment .
And, after just a moderate rainfall, the facility can be inundated with as much as 10 million gallons. The plant can't handle the flow, and a torrent of raw sewage runs into the Tohickon Creek. Just off Erie Avenue, right behind the treatment plant . This eventually ends up in Lake Nockamixon, a popular fishing destination, and one source of the area's water supply.
Quakertown's $3 million loan from the state said specifically ".. replace almost seven miles of sewage collection lines and 724 sewer laterals to eliminate significant inflows into the system that are overloading the treatment facility and causing local stream contamination problems". One of those documents they don't want you to see.
There is plenty of blame to go around. Quakertown processes its own waste, but also makes a lot of money by selling a large portion of its capacity to Richland and Richlandtown through the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority.
The borough's current four-year project is supposed to repair and/or replace part of its system. BCWSA is currently doing its own remediation work in the California Road vicinity, and Route 212, on pipes installed in the early 1970's. There are so many cracks that large quantities of groundwater pour in every day. Rain or shine. Guess who pays for unnecessary treatment.
And some borough residents have illegally tapped sump pumps and downspouts into the BCWSA lines, increasing the already overburdened flow. When groundwater is high, as little as two inches of rain can overloaded the system so badly that one heavy manhole cover blows right off the sewer!!! And that manhole cover sits fifteen feet above the level of the pipe!!! BCWSA tried welding the cover shut. The backpressure then flooded a nearby house. The cover was promptly unwelded.
The sewer plant has reached its capacity again, and the resulting moratorium will slow construction to a crawl. Just like 1997. It took 18 months to build the plant addition back then. It could take much longer this time, because council is voicing opposition to even a study of the problem.
Why? "It's difficult for me to be sympathetic to something that would only encourage development," Council President Ray Fulmer told The Morning Call. "There just would be no benefit to the borough."
Selective memory. Fulmer sure didn't oppose development when he was criticizing Richland for not allowing Qtown to build age-restricted housing on the Krupp site. Like their ex-police chief, council needs to recognize that the world does not end at the town line. Cooperation with others can be of great benefit to the borough.
The people who will suffer most are those who build for a living. Carpenters, plumbers, roofers, electricians, landscapers, drywallers, painters, pavers. And the local businesses that provide goods and services to the builders. And the people employed in those local businesses.
Borough council and BCWSA could have avoided these blows to the area economy, and prevented years of pollution to our waters, if they had acted sooner. Five years ago. Ten. Fifteen. Twenty.
In addition, most of the borough's electrical facilities predate World War II. Ever try to listen to AM radio? That heavy static is caused by deteriorating power lines. In other towns, PP&L has done replacement on a regular schedule. The borough hasn't. Deferred maintenance.
And how about your drinking water? Quakertown received a loan of almost $6 million " to replace more than eight miles of deteriorated water mains and almost 600 lateral lines, and make other improvements to eliminate water losses from leaking distribution lines and eliminate the health hazards created by the leaching of asbestos and iron into the drinking water" . You can bet the borough didn't put out a special newsletter warning about this .
Deferred maintenance and health hazards. The sins of an entire century fall on today's residents.
"Insult to our integrity" indeed.