Jan. 11--A contentious relationship among Littlestown and two neighboring municipalities will likely continue.
An ordinance amendment enacted this year by the borough requires that Germany and Union townships pay a quarterly fee for each fire hydrant in their municipalities that is connected to the borough's water system.
The $55 fee is intended to recoup costs associated with repair and maintenance of the hydrants, said Charles Kellar, Littlestown Borough manager.
Union Township officials said the township did not budget for the hydrant fee because supervisors were not aware of it.
The townships are being charged what the borough has budgeted for its entire system for the whole year, said John Aldridge, Union Township supervisor.
"It's a little bit of a profit center for them," Aldridge said. "We intend to discuss this."
Union Township Supervisor Jack Freet said Littlestown did not pay a penny for the fire hydrants in the township.
Hydrants in Union Township were installed by developers, said Kay Freet, assistant office manager for the township.
But Kellar said the borough maintains the hydrants, which consists of blowing them out to make sure they are ready for use. And the hydrants are connected to borough water sources, Kellar said.
Germany Township Supervisor Jack Ketterman would not comment on the matter that is still being reviewed by township officials, including township solicitor David James.
Ketterman said his township intends to have correspondence with Littlestown Borough officials regarding the hydrant fee.
"We have some issues here," Ketterman said.
And while the townships review the ordinance amendment, borough officials anticipate a further strain in the borough's relationships with its bordering townships.
"They're going to fight us on this," said Littlestown Borough Council member Charlene Westcott. "Is the cost worth what it would cost in legal fees? Everything you do with them is contentious."
At a November borough council meeting, one resident suggested the $55 hydrant fee was steep. But council member David Wheeler said the fee is one of the cheapest in the state.
Littlestown's ties with Germany and Union townships have been frayed since 2010, when the townships declined to form an intermunicipal agreement with the borough for its Act 537 plan. The plan spurred the borough's upgrading of its water and sewer plant, a $7 million project that will reduce the plant's levels of nitrogen and phosphorus that flow into local waters and the Chesapeake Bay.
The plant upgrade could have included an expansion, but the townships opted not to join the borough in its endeavor to comply with Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's initiative to reduce sediment and pollutant discharge into local waters that lead to the bay.
Littlestown Borough will open its upgraded plant in the coming months. Rate hikes were implemented to help fund the project that has been in the works for years.
Since then, potential developers have sought water hookups with the borough, largely to no avail.
Kellar said last summer that Littlestown currently has a self-imposed moratorium on increasing its output until the upgrades are finished. The borough has spoken with potential developers about providing water and sewer resources, but nothing is guaranteed, Kellar said.
"We anticipate some capacity will be available, and there will be a plan that we address in an organized fashion," Kellar said in August. "It may be there, but there are no promises."
Mark Walters covers Adams County for The Evening Sun. Contact him at 717-637-3736 ext. 147.
Copyright 2014 - The Evening Sun, Hanover, Pa.
