The Millerstown Borough’s water tower repairs are complete and could be back online in the coming week.
“The tower repairs have been completed and the tower is being refilled,” borough secretary Karen Knellinger said on June 9 following Millerstown’s council meeting. “After testing, it should be back online within a week or so.”
The borough had approved repairs to the leaking water tower in early 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic delayed work until last month. Once the tank is filled, DEP requires testing to make sure there’s no contamination before it can go back online.
TOWERING — Millerstown will repair the interior of its water tower this year, and repair the exterior next year. Borough staff found a leak late last year and began getting quotes to do the work. (Jim T. Ryan photo)
The borough has also ordered a backup pump for its water system.
In related infrastructure news, Millerstown is expected to get about $71,280 in two installments from the American Rescue Plan Act, the last federal stimulus bill meant to help local municipalities and economies recover from the pandemic.
Knellinger said the borough’s application for the money is filed. That was an aspect of the ARP that caused some in the county to scramble as deadlines approached, other officials said. Some of the rules were confusing or non-existent.
The money is limited in how it can be used for infrastructure, too. It must be used for water, wastewater, and technology improvements, such as broadband internet.
Millerstown continues to review possible ordinances, too. Borough solicitor Bill Dissinger had given council members drafts of several ordinances at the June 8 meeting, such as the backflow prevention, door-to-door solicitation, and solar farms, for their review. Council has not advertised those for an approval vote yet.
In other news, council approved two road patches on Sunbury Street for $1,300, and the purchase of coal chutes for the borough truck worth $1,600.
The borough is also planning for fall cleanup to be around Oct. 9.
Jim T. Ryan can be reached via email at [email protected]