Budget questions about the Bowmanstown Authority and sewer treatment plant dominated the Bowmanstown Borough Council meeting this week.

During the sewer treasurer's report, Councilwoman Pam Leiby asked about water/sewer treatment contractor Portland Contractors' monthly billing.Leiby said it was "quite a bit higher" than previous reports.Councilman Darren Thomas told her the sewer treatment plant has recently been having more issues, including that it "went down," which accounted for the increase in billing seen on the May 6 report.Mayor William Ravert suggested the contractor's monthly operational costs should perhaps be line-itemed in order to avoid confusion in the future.Both reports were eventually approved by the council.Borough Engineer Jessica Rehrig of Alfred Benesch & Co. described a supplement to the company's current contract for the influent screen project of an additional $12,000, Thomas began questioning her about the charges."You're basing it on time and material (not the lump sum the contract specifies)," Thomas said. According to his calculations, the company will eventually push the costs 20 to 25 percent above the quoted sum for that lump sum payment."I disagree with that," said Rehrig. She said she is positive the project has not been billed beyond what was already agreed to in the scope and would gladly meet with anyone to discuss it.Correspondence from the Bowmanstown Authority said the authority held a special meeting April 3 to discuss subcontracting out all water-related matters and hired Brendan Ahner of Banko Excavating.Ravert said the authority said it has overpaid the borough since 2010. It was reported that the authority discovered an error in the reimbursement it makes to the borough for the crew reading its meters each month.The authority wants $5,116.42 to be repaid."I have a problem with that," Ravert said. "Evidently they're not reading their treasurer's report each month if it took them four years to figure (that) out."He said he doesn't feel the borough should be responsible for the authority's mistakes.Council asked Solicitor James Preston to contact the authority's solicitor to discuss the matter in detail.