The Day The Sun Stood Still

Montoursville's sewage repayment still undecided

Montoursville Borough Council is full of questions about water usage - but there are no answers yet.

People occupied rows of seats and stood in the back to hear what the borough council would do about the Lycoming County Sewage and Water Authority requesting a repayment of $615,000.

Solicitor Garth Everett explained that the history of it goes back from January 2003 when LCSWA and the borough agreed that the borough would sell 100,000 gallons of water per day to LCSWA for $615,000.

The borough originally paid for about 600,000 gallons of water per day, but on average only uses 300,000 gallons, so they had leftover water to sell.

The borough council used some of the money over the years for various projects. At this time, about $239,000 of it is in the bank.

In 2008, the borough council received a letter from LCSWA that an audit showed the money was paid in error. The borough council chose not to take action. Six months ago, it received another request. The council sent a letter to LCSWA with various questions, but have not yet received any answers. The LCSWA board will meet today to discuss what happened.

"There is no negligence on anyone's part, on LCSWA boards or the borough council," Everett said. "If Montoursville was paid something it didn't own, it has not been decided yet. It could be a mistake on both parts."

People wanted to know why the borough receives so much water that is never used.

When the borough council years ago determined the usage, it looked at all water usage, which included leaks and washing cars. 650,000 gallons of water was determined, so the borough council decided upon receiving 604,000 gallons of water. The actual usage later appeared to be about half.

One issue raised was what the LCSWA did with the water. If they sold it to the Lycoming Mall, and the borough council decided to pay the money back, but never received the 100,000 gallons of water, the LCSWA would get paid double.

Council President Robert Brobson said the only options he foresaw both would be negative.

"Door A, we pay back without interest," he said. "Door B, we add a surcharge (per customer) of $3.50 to $4 for (equivalent dwelling unit a month)."

LCWSA Executive Director Christine Weigle attended the meeting and spoke at the end of the discussion. Since the board did not yet meet, she could not answer the questions the council had, but she said she would attend the next borough council meeting, Monday, Aug. 1.

Daily Kos: The Day The (Summer) Sun Stood Still

The observation of the Summer Solstice extends into prehistory. Stonehenge is aligned so that the sun rises above the Heel Stone on Midsummer. Site B at Newgrange in Ireland is also aligned with the solstice, and the older Carrowkeel Cairn site is aligned so that the sun lights up the back wall on that day.

The so-called "medicine wheels" of the American and Canadian West - including the most famous, the Bighorn Medicine Wheel near Sheriden, Wyoming - align with the solstice, among other celestial events. The Anasazi ruin called the House of the Great Kiva, near Aztec, New Mexico, is arranged so that the sun illuminates the altar on that day. At Fajada Butte in Chaco Canyon, the ancient Pueblo Peoples created the Sun Dagger, whose light marks the solstice on spiral petroglyphs on the canyon wall.

At the Essene community of Qumran in Palestine, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, an apparent "sun temple" is lit by the solstice like the rooms at Carrowkeel Cairn and the Great Kiva.

But more common than these ancient calendars, cool as they are, were the celebrations .