The Walnutport Authority, which is charged with operating, maintaining and setting the rates for Walnutport's water and sewer systems, chose its officers, solicitor and engineer at its reorganization meeting Tuesday night.

Though it was first noted that previous Chairman Ron Kuntz and board member Dennis Green will need to be officially reappointed by borough council, Kuntz was again chosen as the authority's chairman, subject to that reappointment.Also returning to their prior offices were Mark Queen as vice chairman, Robert Treskot as secretary and Susan Schneck as treasurer.The authority also reappointed Leo DeVito as its solicitor and Spotts, Stevens and McCoy Group as its engineer.However, the group hesitated when discussing the reappointment of Bob Tucker as its auditor, noting that, though Tucker has been its CPA for close to 20 years, it has been difficult in recent months to contact him.In fact, as had been discussed at the December meeting, Treskot had been requested to, and gathered, an estimate for CPA services from Gary Frey and Co. However, members were quick to note that the authority has a history with Tucker and that any newer company may eventually charge more than he did."(Plus,) he's been pretty good up until now," added DeVito, who said it seemed odd there had been little contact from Tucker.It was decided that someone from the authority should reach out to him to clarify the cause of the lack of communication before moving forward with appointing an auditor. Treskot volunteered to do so.In other news, engineer Jason Newhard announced that the Heimbach Filtration Plant, the borough's water filtration system that has been 10 years in the planning and development stages and is located on Alder Drive, just north of Kmart, needs only a few more details completed before it can be placed online.As noted at the December meeting, it was tentatively scheduled to be operational by the first week of the new year. However, Kuntz said it will likely take several more weeks to become operational.In regard to the Oak Street water main replacement project, to run from Route 145 west to Lincoln Avenue, Newhard said that borough council, which is handling the project due to it also involving an asphalt overlay, recently approved putting out specs and bids for the project.He said he hopes to have further details by the authority's March meeting.When Kuntz asked what the cost of the project might be for the authority, Newhard said it would be whatever the two bodies decide will be an equitable split.