BEACH LAKE, PA — With the proposed Berlin township 2015 budget ready for public viewing and highway department trucks already equipped with plows, chains, and spreaders, it appeared that the November 18 board of supervisors meeting would be strictly routine, and much of it was.

The board voted unanimously to extend the six-month sign moratorium, due to expire on November 17, to permit the planning commission additional time to draft a signage ordinance. It passed a resolution inviting public scrutiny of the proposed 2015 budget at the Berlin Community Center (50 Milanville Rd.) on Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through December 15, with a board budget approval vote scheduled for the monthly meeting at 7:30 p.m. on December 15. And it authorized advertisements for subcontractors to assist with snowplowing; interested parties must possess a commercial driver’s license and should contact roadmaster Cathy Hunt at 570/729-8073 for additional information.

But there is an issue at hand: the township contends that it has become an undeserving target of Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) zeal. Referencing the $4,016 DRBC fine levied against the township for failing to monitor municipal authority waste water for the presence of specific environmental hazards, Chairperson Paul Henry said, “We received a major fine for a minor infraction.” After saying that the township is not guilty of discharging environmental hazards from its sewer system, Henry said that the township is guilty only of being unaware that it was expected to monitor for certain substances. “Had we known that this monitoring was required, it would have been done,” said Henry. The monitoring failures occurred during the six-month period from June to December 2013.

By a letter dated November 14, 2014, township solicitor Jeffrey Treat responded to the DRBC Notice of Violation and to Show Cause, dated October 24. In that letter, Treat said the board had reviewed the DRBC’s notice at its November 12 meeting and was “desirous of resolving this matter in an amicable manner.” The letter went on to describe board actions taken since receipt of the notice, among them an interview with the municipal authority plant operator, which “revealed that the failure to report pursuant to the Effluent Table A-2 of the approved application to discharge into the Delaware River was an unintentional oversight of which the operator and the board were not aware until it was brought to their attention approximately six (6) months after the approval of the application. Upon receiving notice, the authority immediately rectified the oversight and has been complying with the reporting requirements in full compliance of the approved application.”

Treat’s letter further stated, “This oversight was not intended for any economic benefit, and the authority is committed to a good working relationship with the Delaware River Basin Commission in the preservation of clean water throughout the township river basin. This cooperation is further evidenced by the authority’s quick response to rectify the oversight… It is for all of these reasons that the board believes that an agreed upon penalty should be in the minor category.”

The hearing to show cause is currently scheduled for December 9.