During Monday night's meeting of the Nesquehoning Water Authority, Jim Rhoades of Alfred Benesch & Co. provided updates and presented the timeline for the borough's water tank project.

Benesch announced that the authority received DEP approval for it's Public Water Supply Permit. Advertising for bids for the project will begin in mid-December. Bids will be received and opened on Jan. 28, 2013 at 3:30 p.m.Plans for project financing in the amount of $650,000-$700,000 are to be in place by Feb. 4. The financing is for funds in addition to the grant that was received for the project necessary to cover the total estimated cost of the project, which is presently set at $1,244,605.On Feb. 11, the Notice of Award to Contractor will be issued, followed by contract execution on Feb. 25 and Notice to Proceed by March 1.As a requirement of the Public Water Supply Permit, large diameter tree clearing of trees larger than 5 inches in diameter must be cleared and removed from the project site by March 29. This deadline was put in place so that a Brown Bat habitat could be cleared while the bats were migrating down south.Authority members also made the decision to request bids on concrete tanks only during the bidding process rather than including alternate bids for steel or glass lined tanks as originally planned. With the grant set to expire by June 30, a request will be submitted to extend the grant through the end of 2014; however, the project is expected to be completed by November 2013.In other matters, borough engineer Ron Tirpak addressed a DEP letter that had been received earlier in the year. DEP has expressed concerns with what it considered to be "critical issues" with the dam. Tirpak stated that in order to address the boil issue, sand bags had been placed around the small boil area to see if there was any silt migration through the dam as a result of the boil.Tirpak felt that there was no migration and noted that a photo was then taken to put in the annual report. DEP had requested x-rays of the concrete walls on the top of the spillway, due to concerns of lateral movement. If the reinforcement is rusting at the point where the wall meets the slab, that failure could occur causing water to rush out and the possibility of losing the dam. Tirpak said he has had difficulty finding a company to perform the x-ray and had reached out to DEP for suggestions with no success.Tirpak will continue to seek someone to do the x-ray and will also address another DEP request by inspecting and televising the outlet pipe from the dam at a cost of approximately $2,000 within the next couple of weeks. A letter will be sent to DEP informing them of the steps that are being taken to address their issues.Authority members also voted to advertise for chemical bids for water treatment.