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Beaver Brook Residents Get Reprieve; Water Stays on Despite Unpaid Bill

HAZLE TOWNSHIP — A community in Luzerne County is on the verge of having its water shut off, but residents of Beaver Brook got a reprieve Tuesday afternoo...
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HAZLE TOWNSHIP -- A community in Luzerne County is on the verge of having its water shut off, but residents of Beaver Brook got a reprieve Tuesday afternoon, despite owing thousands for an unpaid bill.

Promising words were exchanged between the Kline Township Municipal Authority and the president of the Beaver Brook Association.

“Hopefully, this will be a productive start tonight, and we take it from here,” said authority chairman Francis Patton.

This meeting comes one day after the Beaver Brook community in Luzerne County was going to have its water shut off, due to an unpaid eight-year-old bill.

“We have our issues, you have to do what you have to do for your organization, but I'm here to talk on behalf of them,” said the association’s president Robert Quinn.

Beaver Brook is located in Hazle Township, but it buys its water in bulk from the Kline Township Municipal Authority in Schuylkill County.

However, due to that unpaid bill, residents are roughly $30,000 in debt to the authority.

The authority sent a notice that the water would be turned off Monday, prompting Quinn to call state and local lawmakers.

They, in turn, asked the authority to wait until this meeting could be held in the hope of a resolution.

“It was a very positive meeting. He has to go back to his constituents over there and seeing if they're going to be able to handle the possible change that we asked,” said Patton.

The authority is willing to put Beaver Brook on a payment plan, so each month residents will have to pay an additional fee along with their water bill.

How much residents will have to pay is still being worked out.

The authority says as long as payments are made on time, the water will remain on.

“I'm just glad we had a meeting today, and we're going to work together on this and try and move forward with this and keep going,” said Beaver Brook resident Jennifer Grier.

“This is only the beginning. It's not going to be fixed in three weeks, six months, a year. It's going to take a short-term plan and then a long-term plan,” said Quinn.

The authority also said future penalties being applied to the debt would also discontinue if residents make payments on time.

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