“If we get a big rain, were in trouble,” Snyder said.

An identical tank was repaired about five years ago, before Snyder was manager, and the repairs just under $40,000, including about $22,000 for parts such as chains, drive sprockets and shafts.

Snyder said the cost for the parts, now plastic rather than metal components, still cost about the same, but he expects labor costs to be higher than before.

CAA legal counsel Keith Pemrick said the costs involved will require the project to be advertised for bids, and the board voted unanimously to do so.

Metering problem

Snyder said a second serious problem needed to be addressed: meters to measure sewage flows within the system have been problematic since they were installed last year.

The meters, known as “DataGators,” use sensors to measure sewage follows, but the sensors get dirty or blocked and cannot make proper measurements.

Those measurements are required by DEP, Snyder said, and he has had to tell environmental officials the measurements are not available.

Snyder said the problem is a design flaw: the DataGators are good units and are installed properly, but are more suited for measuring clean water, such as in a drinking water system, rather than sewage.

CAA crews have been trying to keep the sensors clean, but this involves climbing down into a small access hole, and the cleaning often doesn’t last long enough to get any kind of accurate reading.

There are four DataGators in various locations in the collection system, and all are connected to a computerized monitoring system; the technology is impressive, but it just doesn’t work in a sewer system, Snyder said. “DEP wants readings, and we can’t give them.

CAA engineer Rulison Evans of Gannett-Fleming is expected to examine the problem this week, Snyder said, and engineers from Pennsylvania-American Water may lend assistance in determining what should be done about the problem.

Money issues

The authority took the last step toward securing a 12-month extension of an $865,000 loan from the First United National Bank of Fryburg.

Clarion Borough recently agreed to back the loan, and Pemrick presented the CAA with a resolution granting final authorization.

Pemrick said the FUN Bank reduced the interest rate from 4.75 percent to 4.3 percent. The loan will be effective April 22.

As he has in recent meetings, CAA chairman Paul Weaver again said the authority should consider a rate increase.

Some large expenses, some unexpected, along with uncertainty as to when the sale of the system to Pennsylvania-American will take place, may force the authority to increase rates, he said.

Snyder said the last increase bumped the base rate to $16 in October of 2006. From then until October 2007, the CAA saw revenues of $974,000, but expenses were greater during that period.

Snyder said the CAA has seen “many extraordinary costs” for engineering and legal services.

Weaver directed Snyder to develop a report on possible rate increases for the authority’s April 21 meeting.