As Lock 23 nears completion, updates on it, and several other projects, were shared at Wednesday's Walnutport Canal Association meeting.

A preliminary report for the net income received from the association's annual canal festival on Oct. 20 was given by 1st Vice President Doug Boehrer, who conducted the meeting in President Everett Kaul's absence.He said the net income totaled $10,315, minus receipts and deposits from the 5K Run plus two-thirds of the vendor contributions not yet received. He also said the average for the yearly canal festival ranges from $10,000 to $11,000.Board of Trustees Chairman Bob Treskot also noted that the association's refreshment stand's sales declined this year; however, the leftover food was donated to Johnson Family Daycare in Slatington.In addition, Boehrer reported that he had visited the Lock 23 construction site earlier that day and that the contractor, Nimaris Construction, L.P., is "right on target" for its 90-day completion date."(They're) hoping to have that lock repair completely finished, other than the landscaping, before Thanksgiving," Boehrer said.He also noted that Nimaris had pulled 590 tons of silt from the lock.When the board's assistant chairman, Erv Prutzman, asked what the average increase in the water level in the lock will be now that it has been dredged out, Boehrer said he believed it would be six feet. He added that the goal of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is to have an inch-and-a-half of water over the spillway.Boehrer next reported that the association's WCA Heritage Center now has the drywall and spackling finished and that its upstairs loft will soon be completed. He added that the association is looking for a contribution of carpeting and that the heating system and interior lighting will be obtained through Pencor, at its cost.In all, the members also spent over an hour during the meeting examining, and offering slight changes to the association's first edition of its recently revised by-laws.It was, in fact, an announcement on the association's Main Street sign by the canal that stated the WCA would meet to discuss its by-laws that brought newcomer George Lett to the meeting.Lett, who lives in Washington Township, said he enjoys walking along the towpath and fishing in the canal and that he decided to attend the meeting because he is "interested to find out what's going on with the various locks and the water level and so forth."