Local News
Firm lauds billing system set up by city sanitary authority
SHARON — The president of the software company that handles Sharon Sanitary Authority’s accounting systems said he wants to use their story as an example of success in their industry.
Craig Held, owner of Software Systems Inc., said that the authority has put together a staff, data and new billing system in “the space of a couple months.”
That’s “unheard of,” he said.
Held’s firm automates local government and authority’s accounts and sets up billing systems and provides technical support, he said.
The authority uses Held’s firm’s Ubillity software to manage the sewer accounts and Authority Manager Guy Cunningham noted that Sharon has the highest percentage of delinquency — a rate that was as high as 30 percent when the authority took over billing in March 2009 — of any of the Gibsonia-based company’s customers.
The authority is dealing with an “incredible amount of information,” Held said, noting that they have 7,000 customers that are billed monthly. They also have a “huge amount” of delinquent accounts, Held said.
“There’s just so much,” Cunningham said of the data. “We’ve come so, so far in the 9-10 months we’ve been doing this.” In the wake of a judge’s ruling that the authority’s account information is public record, Cunningham spent several hours showing The Herald how the system works and allowing access to delinquency records and specific account information. A list of debtors will be published in The Herald in
The authority had to incorporate data from several sources, including records from Aqua America, the city and Sharp Collections, in order to set up their own system, Held said.
It’s taken some time, but they’ve seen a “phenomenal payoff” from their efforts, Cunningham said.
Since cracking down on scofflaws through more aggressive tactics that include shut-offs, lawsuits and liens, Cunningham said they’ve collected about $1 million beyond what was budgeted.
Held said he’s been in this business for 22 years and that if an entity doesn’t pay attention to delinquencies, people know they can get away with not paying because “no one’s knocking on their door.”
He said customers who keep up with their bills want to know that the “guy down the street” will have consequences for not doing the same.
“Guy Cunningham has made sure that happens,” Held said.
Cunningham credited authority employee Cookie Kepics as a “driving force” behind going after the delinquents and said there was a lot of hard work on the part of his staff.
“There’s no slackers in this office,” Cunningham said.
Held said his employees have a good rapport with the authority’s and their working together will benefit other clients.
“Guy and his group come up with ideas that make sense for other customers,” Held said, and the company incorporates those into their service.
“Everybody is unique,” Held said. “So we end up doing a lot of customization on a functional and report level.”
Those custom reports include lists of delinquent users in Sharon, information The Herald officially requested in June. The authority denied the request at the advice of Solicitor William J. Madden and in August the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records ruled that the information was public and should be released.
The authority appealed the ruling to Mercer County Common Pleas Court and Judge Christopher J. St. John recently issued an opinion agreeing with the state.
In October, Cunningham testified before the judge who heard the Right-to-Know appeal that there was about $1 million in back bills owed to the authority and the city. The authority was formed in late 2007 as the city was borrowing $45 million to build a new plant ordered by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Prior to that, the city was in charge of the sewer department. It’s unclear how much sewer debt went uncollected during that time.
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Court nixes ruling man is sexually violent predator
State Superior Court has denied a local judge’s request to issue a precedential opinion in a rape case.
Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge John C. Reed had ruled that Chad S. Thompson, 24, formerly of Stoneboro, is a sexually violent predator, but Superior Court said in a 2-1 decision July 8 that an expert’s testimony was insufficient to back that declaration.
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Stacey wants to continue fight over razed home
Raymond Stacey has requests pending in three courts as he presses his long-running attempt to prosecute the city of Hermitage and those he believes are responsible for illegally demolishing his parents’ house.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia, on April 29 quashed an appeal because Stacey did not file his argument brief and appendix of supporting documents.
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Burglars strike while residents sleep
Several Shenango Valley residents’ homes were broken into overnight Tuesday and Wednesday while they slept.
Two burglaries in Sharon involved people entering open windows.
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Commissioners formally move to raise sewer fees
Hermitage commissioners introduced an ordinance Wednesday to increase sanitary user fees.
Residents tapped into the Hermitage Municipal Authority lines now pay $95 a quarter. That rate will bump up to $105 a quarter on Jan. 1, under the proposed rate hike.
Two more hikes on Jan. 1, 2012, and Jan. 1, 2013, will result in the rates increasing 50 percent from the current fee. -
Water is on at Forrest Brooke
Water service has been restored at Forrest Brooke Manufactured Home Community after well problems left the 165-unit complex dry Tuesday.
A boil and conserve water advisory has been issued by the DEP and will remain in place until tests confirm the water is safe to drink, Forrest Brooke’s manager Pete Havens said.
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Storm damages trees, wires
Thunderstorms ripped through parts of Mercer and neighboring counties Wednesday night, downing trees and wires and keeping rescue workers on their toes.
A Mercer County 911 dispatcher shortly after 8 p.m. said they were busy with calls across the northern part of the county. He said there had been a few reports of trees falling on homes.
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City leaders open to talks
Sharon officials aren’t opposed to sitting down with their counterparts in Farrell to revisit the idea of combining the two struggling cities.
“It never costs a penny to talk and there’s no (idea) that’s not worth looking at,” Sharon councilman Ed Palanski said. “I think it would be foolish to oppose looking at the idea.”
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Murphy’s Law doesn’t faze regional planners
A complicated, two-day public meeting blitz in 32 counties ran headlong into Murphy’s Law in Mercer County on Tuesday.
The group Power of 32 are looking to re-write the regional map and create a grand, 15-year strategic economic plan for the 32 counties in four states that make up the Ohio River basin and greater Pittsburgh area.
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Forrest Brooke copes with water outage
Residents of Forrest Brooke Mobile Home Community in Jefferson and Lackawannock Townships woke up Tuesday morning to find they didn’t have any water.
Managers of the park could not be reached for comment, but residents said they were told they won’t get water service back for at least another month.
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City facing bleak financial reality
LaVon Saternow has been Farrell’s city manager since 1992. Shortly after she took the job, Sharon Steel, the city’s economic engine, officially closed down.
Since, the city has struggled to remain solvent and Mrs. Saternow said it is facing its worst financial crisis in her tenure.
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Court nixes ruling man is sexually violent predator
