Is Plymouth Being Overcharged for Sewage?

Is Plymouth Township, and its residents, being overcharged for the use of sewer systems owned by the Borough of Conshocken Sewer Authority?

That's what early reports performed by a contractor hired by Plymouth Township apparently indicate, although officials of that municipality are quick to say that final results are not yet available.

The matter was discussed at Monday night's Plymouth Council Workshop meeting, when public works director Chris Loschiavo reported the early findings of a meter study conducted earlier in the year. According to Loschiavo,  contractor BCM Engineering placed four meters into the township's sewer systems to monitor nearly all sewer flow for a three month period of time.

"This is a preliminary study and there is still some work to be done, but the meter data actually indicates that we've recorded half of the flows that the BCA is recording," Loschiavo said. "Basically we're looking at about 200,000 gallons a day, and they're looking at about 400,000."

--

See also:

--

However, Plymouth Township Manager Karen Weiss told Patch that staff is not going to come to any conclusions until the final reports come in.

"Until we get that report, I wouldn't say they're overcharging us for the sewage we're sending," Weiss said, adding she expects the reports to be finalized by the end of June.

Records show that Plymouth Council approved a $21,080 contract with BCM Engineering to perform the metering in October 2011.

Weiss says that the meters were then installed for a three month period of time in early 2012, and captured nearly all flow out of Plymouth Township.

"We had some feeling that the [BCA] meters might be overreading what was there," Weiss said.

The Borough of Conshocken Authority, known more commonly as the sewer authority, is an independent entity whose directors are appointed by the Borough of Conshohocken Council. While the authority issues utility bills directly to Conshohocken residents, it collects money from Plymouth and West Conshocken municipalities in block amounts, leaving those municipalities to individually charge their own residents who use the systems.

As , Conshohocken Council members publicly stated in May that they believed Plymouth Township owed approximately $500,000 to the BCA. While not a part of the Borough's budget, Conshocken Council members said they were concerned by the allegedly overdue payments because of restrictions it placed on the BCA's ability to fund capital improvement projects.

Conshohocken Council also stated that West Conshohocken owed the BCA approximately $700,000, but paid the amount just days after the number was publicly discussed.

When asked if Plymouth Township believed it was overdue on any payments to the BCA, Weiss said that the township has been following the same procedure for years. According to Weiss, Plymouth hired auditor Rick Orloff in 2004, and generally pays its bills to the BCA after Orloff completes his annual audit around September.

"It's been that way for eight years now…when our auditor confirms that the work was done and invoices were paid…that's when they get their payment," Weiss said.

Weiss added that Plymouth Township pays treatment costs, which she defined as joint costs with Conshohocken and West Conshohocken, on a quarterly basis, and did so on schedule in April. She also said that when Orloff did his original audit in 2004, he discovered that the BCA owed approximately $350,000 to Plymouth for services from 1998-2003, and that the BCA is now paying that money back over a 10-year period.

Patch reached out to the BCA and was directed to attorney Michael Clarke, but has not yet received any comment.