JERSEY SHORE - Construction of the borough's new sewage treatment plant should get under way by April 2011, borough engineer Eric Moore told council Monday night.
Moore outlined for the public the steps still awaiting council before building the plant.
The next move, he said, will be for the borough to obtain its water quality management permit in the spring.
"You could apply for funding after that," he said.
Advertising bids for construction could come before the end of the year.
Under the plan approved by council last year, it was agreed to build a new plant at a yet-to-be determined site.
Moore said two undisclosed locations have been selected.
He said the borough could opt to keep in place its existing plant, using it to treat water from natural gas drilling as a means of raising revenue.
In a related matter, council voted to release two treatment plant employees.
Borough officials said the approved layoffs of Harry Overdorf and Gary Johnson are the result of a lack of work for the two at the plant.
"It is not an easy thing, but we have to think of the needs of the borough," explained Councilman Wade Snyder.
Snyder and other borough officials could not come up with the borough's cost savings by releasing the two workers.
The layoffs are effective Friday.
Council held a public hearing to consider projects for Community Development Block Grant funding.
Michael Miller, of SEDA-Council of Governments, which administers the CDBG funding, said the borough should be eligible for an estimated $103,000 this year.
Among the projects being considered are those addressing swimming pool improvements, sidewalk upgrades, street lighting and recreational programs.
Miller said all recommendations will be considered with regard to program guidelines.
Council must approve the projects by April.
Tiadaghton Valley Regional Police Department Interim Chief Howard Daugherty told council that formation of the new law enforcement body will mean a cost savings for the borough, but not immediately due to start-up costs.
Daugherty, longtime former chief of the West Shore Police Department near Harrisburg, said he is in the process of streamlining paper work, establishing bank accounts and payroll systems and attending to other issues involved with forming a new police force.
Jersey Shore and Porter Township police forces recently were combined to form the Tiadaghton Department.
"We've done a lot. We have a lot yet to do," said Daugherty, who is serving as a consultant to the two-community police force.
Borough manager John Engle told council that a leak at the community skating rink is being fixed.
"I think it's a work in progress," he said.
