Nesquehoning officials are still concerned about the hydrant system at Lake Hauto.

On Wednesday, John McArdle, borough emergency management coordinator and Nesquehoning Hose Company fire chief, told borough council that he received a verbal request from the Lansford-Coaldale Joint Water Authority to complete a flow test of the hydrants at the lake.Council advised McArdle not to do anything until a written request is received that also states the authority would be responsible for any damage that occurs to the firetruck during the testing.Council also said that it has not yet resolved the issue with the testing of the dry hydrants at the lake because no written request from the club has been received to date.McArdle again stressed that the hydrants around Lake Hauto are inadequate in the event of a fire because the flow is weak due to an antiquated system."This is very serious," he said. "If we have a fire up at the lake … I refuse to jeopardize any of our firemen and put their lives at risk by not having adequate fire protection at the lake."Councilman David DeMelfi, who is on the Lake Hauto Club board, said that he would bring it up again at the club's next meeting.Borough solicitor Robert Yurchak said that fighting a fire at the lake with inadequate water supply also is a liability for the borough."I don't know what else we can do here," McArdle said, adding that hydrant lines were installed decades ago and have never been upgraded to meet the growing needs of the private community.Council President David Hawk said that council will send a request to the authority to send a written request for the flow testing and will again try to open up dialogue about the hydrant system.DeMelfi noted that the club will draw down on Lake Hauto later this year, meaning that the dry hydrants, which have an adequate flow normally, will be rendered useless during that time period.McArdle said that during that time, if a fire happens in the development, firefighters would need to bring in tanker trucks, which would take upward of one hour before an adequate flow is available to fight a fire.In other matters, council discussed a proposal to resurface Tippets Road, which is the eastern access point to the Lake Hauto development.Councilman Don DeMarco said he received a proposal and it would cost over $100,000 to do the necessary repairs and resurfacing work that is needed on the road.Council said they must first figure out the drainage issue before proceeding with resurfacing the road and said that they would have borough crews clean out the swale to see if that helps.