Some Lansford business owners say they are frustrated over a recent increase in the borough's sewage transmission fee.

The fee has been in place for two decades in order to fund repairs to the borough's sewer lines. But council members say they are exploring ideas to decrease the amount that residents pay.Two business owners addressed council last week to let them know they were upset with their 2016 sewage transmission bills. Both are owner-occupied businesses.The borough has an ordinance requiring every residence, business and industrial property in the borough to pay the sewage transmission fee.The money is intended for sewer line repairs and debt service on a loan of more than $1 million taken out for sewer repairs about a decade ago.Resident Jesse Hiles said he's lived above his bar, the Sports Zoo, since the fee was implemented and always received a single sewage transmission fee bill. This year, for the first time, he got a second bill for the business."I only use one sewer," he said. "If I'm being charged for two, I want two."Shawn Clark, a funeral director, said he couldn't understand the second bill for his business either."We have one sewer line. I am OK with paying the commercial rate, but why am I paying two bills for one sewer line?" he said.Borough officials explained that there had been an oversight in the past, and owner-occupied businesses should have been receiving two bills.The mistake was discovered when the borough revised the ordinance last year to increase the rate for businesses."It was brought to our attention that there was no (bill for) commercial. The ordinance was changed and people are now getting a bill that they previously did not get," Rose Mary Cannon said.The fee was put in place in 1996 after a sewer main collapsed and there was no money for repairs.Hiles said that he thought it was supposed to be a one-time fee."It was never supposed to go away," Cannon said. "Nobody would have been able to flush their toilet. We did not have any money."The borough has also been under pressure from DEP to modernize its sewer system.Council President Martin Ditsky said that the transmission fund will be needed in the near future for sewer projects.Councilman Matt Walsh, who operates a small retail business, said that he has to pay the sewage transmission fee even though he does not have water or sewer service."I feel your pain just as much, if not worse," Walsh said. "The ordinance needs to be looked at and revised."Walsh encouraged Hiles and Clark to attend an upcoming meeting of council's planning and zoning committee.He said a resident will be presenting his ideas on how to change the fee. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. March 30.