Bernville Seeks $1M State Grant for Water Plant Upgrade

Bernville Borough Council is asked tonight to go back to the state for $1,000,000 toward an upgrade of the borough's water treatment plant, two years after its last application for the same project went unfunded. The same meeting starts the clock on the 2027 budget: council would authorize advertising it for adoption on Dec. 1. The meeting is Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. at Bernville Borough Hall, according to the agenda posted Monday afternoon. The borough's Council Meetings page puts the hall at 6602 Bernville Rd. and says every meeting starts at 7 p.m. and is open to the public.

The $1 million request

Item 4.8 is a motion to adopt Resolution No. 11-03-2026B "requesting a Statewide Local Share Assessment grant of $1,000,000 from the Commonwealth Financing Authority to be used for the Water Treatment Plant Upgrade Project," and to let the council president and borough secretary sign the paperwork. The state calls the program the Local Share Account, or LSA: a grant program that hands out casino gaming revenue through the Commonwealth Financing Authority for "projects in the public interest," according to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. Boroughs are eligible applicants, and the program's guidelines list construction, infrastructure and equipment among the eligible uses (pp. 1–2).

The guidelines set the ceiling at exactly what Bernville is asking for: "Grant requests shall not exceed $1,000,000 for any project," and the project must cost at least $25,000 (p. 2). Applications are taken from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30 each year (p. 4), so council has until Nov. 30 to get this one in. A resolution like tonight's is a required attachment, "Exhibit 4," for any government that applies (p. 5). The state's FAQ page adds that no local match is required, that awards are expected "in September in the year following application submission," and that the money comes as reimbursement after costs are incurred. The guidelines also bar starting work before the CFA approves the grant (p. 2). The CFA says it judges applications on "cost, strategic importance, and impact" (p. 6). Tonight's vote only authorizes the request; the state decides whether to fund it, and the agenda gives no total project cost. The resolution's "B" suffix suggests a companion resolution. The Aug. 4 minutes record the fire chief saying the fire company wanted its own LSA grant for 40 pagers and that "Council would need to adopt a resolution for the grant application"; no such item is on tonight's agenda.

Kutztown's council adopted a similar resolution last month for a $515,352 LSA request for the Strand Theater.

Two years of trying to fix the water

The agenda does not describe the project, but the borough's own records do. Bernville's water comes from two groundwater wells, Well 3 and Well 4, according to the 2024 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report the borough posted. That report shows manganese detected at an average of 25 parts per billion with a range of 0 to 130, against a limit of 50; the report marks no violation, explains that elevated manganese "can cause discoloration" and that people with liver disease and the elderly are more sensitive to it, and says that at elevated levels "it is recommended to use an alternative water source for drinking." The report attributes the manganese to "erosion of natural deposits."

The borough has been chasing state money for a filter since 2024. On Sept. 24, 2024, council voted 5-0 to authorize its engineering firm, Spotts Stevens McCoy (SSM), "to apply for the LSA Grant for the manganese treatment filter system for well #3," per the work session minutes. On Oct. 1, 2024, council authorized SSM to prepare that grant and a second one for a new well, the latter at a cost of $3,500, per the minutes. On Nov. 6, 2024, council adopted four LSA Statewide resolutions in one night: for paving, for curbing, for a new well in Stan Clay Park, and Resolution 20241106D "for upgrade of Bernville Borough's water treatment plant," per the minutes. That resolution named the same project, the water treatment plant upgrade, that tonight's item does.

None of the four was funded. The CFA's running list of approved LSA Statewide projects, updated Sept. 15, 2026, shows one Bernville award in the program's history: $31,100 for a "Well Pump Generator," approved March 16, 2023. No Bernville project appears in the rounds the CFA approved on Oct. 22, 2024, Dec. 18, 2025 or Sept. 15, 2026. The borough's posted minutes from fall 2025 record no new application: the Oct. 7, 2025 minutes note only that the fire company skipped applying because it did not yet own its property.

The project came back this year. The engineer's report in the March 3, 2026 minutes said a PENNVEST loan "may be requested for any other work being proposed by the Authority on a new Well or on the Iron/Manganese Treatment System," at 1% interest for five years and about 1.7% after that. At the Aug. 25 workshop, SSM engineer Jamie Lorah told council "LSA Grants are available to submit by November 30th" and suggested a grant to reline manholes; "Council suggests reapplying for the filtration system for well 3," per the minutes. At a special meeting on Oct. 13, council took up a $3,500 SSM proposal "for professional services related to the resubmission of the Local Share Account (LSA) grant application for the Iron and Manganese Treatment Project," per that agenda. Tonight's agenda does not say whether the "Water Treatment Plant Upgrade Project" and the iron and manganese project are the same thing, and no cost estimate for either is in the posted record.

Council acts on the water system directly, with a contract operator, though the borough's own documents also refer to a "Bernville Borough Water Authority": the water fund's budget report attached to the Aug. 4 minutes carries that heading, and the engineer's March report speaks of work "proposed by the Authority." The Dec. 2, 2025 minutes record a contract with ARRO Water Services through Dec. 31, 2026 at $2,569 a month for water and $8,899 a month for wastewater. The 2026 water fund budget is $289,600, and the borough's budget-vs-actual report attached to the Aug. 4 minutes shows $168,659 collected from water customers through July 30 against a full-year budget of $260,600. Council has also been weighing whether to hand water and sewer to a separate municipal authority: a June 2 motion to have the solicitor start creating one was tabled, per the minutes, and the July 28 workshop minutes say it "will be discussed further at a future meeting."

For a larger version of the same problem, Boyertown's council took up a $1.12 million SSM contract Monday to design a new water plant, contingent on financing.

The 2027 budget starts its public clock

Item 4.7 authorizes Secretary/Treasurer Brenda Strunk "to advertise the 2027 budget in the Reading Eagle for adoption at December 1, 2026 Council Meeting." The agenda gives no figures. Under the state Borough Code, the proposed budget must be kept on file with the borough secretary and open to public inspection for ten days before adoption (section 1307), and the secretary must publish a notice that it is available (section 1308). The Aug. 25 minutes say the budget would be discussed at September's workshop, "2027 Budget" was on the Oct. 27 workshop agenda, and the Aug. 25 minutes also say the secretary emailed council a projected 2027 budget; the buildings and grounds committee asked that it include park cameras, cameras at the borough hall and remodeling the former police office.

For scale, the 2026 budget council adopted on Dec. 2, 2025 was $408,771 for the general fund, $313,100 for sewer, $289,600 for water and $122,100 for trash, per the minutes. The same night council set the 2026 tax rate at 5.69 mills; the minutes note "the rate remains the same as 2025." The borough's Taxes page lists that rate and defines a mill as $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value, alongside the county's 9.013 mills and Tulpehocken Area's 25.70. See our guide for how Bernville's rate compares to other Berks municipalities. A year ago, the Sept. 23, 2025 workshop minutes recorded two council members in favor of a tax increase and talk of raising water and sewer rates, and the rate held anyway. Whether 2027 brings a change will be in the advertised budget, not in tonight's motion.

Surplus sale, street signs, the pool property

Item 4.9 asks council to "accept the highest bids received through Municibid for the items listed in the attachment," sell to those bidders, and dispose of anything that drew no bid. Municibid is an online auction site for government surplus. The attachment is not part of the posted PDF, and a search of Municibid Tuesday morning turned up no active or completed listings from the borough, so the list of items and the prices will come out at the meeting. The Oct. 6 agenda carried a motion to adopt Resolution 10-06-2026 E, "AUTHORIZING THE SALE OF SURPLUS PERSONAL PROPERTY VIA ONLINE PUBLIC AUCTION"; those minutes are not posted, so the vote is unrecorded, though tonight's item presumes it passed; the Oct. 13 special meeting separately took up transferring the borough's surplus 2020 Ford F-150 police truck to Bethel Township. Bernville no longer has its own police force: council adopted Ordinance 2026-355 disbanding the department at a June 29 special meeting by a 4-2 vote, per the minutes, after a notice on the borough's news page announced an ordinance "disbanding and abolishing" the department, and the Aug. 4 minutes refer to the "former Police Chief" and list a legal bill for "disbandment of police department." The May 5 minutes say the borough "at this time has state police coverage."

Item 4.10 approves buying street signs "not to exceed $4500 as budgeted."

Items 4.1 through 4.3 accept the minutes of the Oct. 6 regular meeting, the Oct. 13 special meeting and the Oct. 27 workshop. None of the three is posted yet; the newest minutes on the borough's documents page are from Aug. 4 and Aug. 25. The Oct. 27 workshop agenda carried two money items whose outcome is therefore unrecorded: pothole patching by Arlan R. Wessner, Inc. at $3,975 plus up to $5,000 more on field work orders, for a total not to exceed $8,975, and opening a general fund account with the Pennsylvania Local Government Investment Trust and moving $250,000 into it from Tompkins Bank. Items 4.4 through 4.6 approve the bills and accept the treasurer's report and profit-and-loss statement subject to audit. The engineer's report is listed as "Written Report given," and the written report is not posted with the agenda.

Under committee reports, the buildings and grounds line reads "Pool property," as it did on Oct. 6. The borough owns a former swimming pool it acquired from the Western Berks Swimming Association, per the July 28 workshop minutes. Council voted on Oct. 7, 2025 to advertise and sell it with a reserve price to be set, recorded as carried 3-0 with one member opposed, per those minutes; accepted an auctioneer's proposal on Nov. 5, 2025; and on June 23, 2026 set an auction for Aug. 19 at noon with a $20,000 reserve, per the workshop minutes. By July 28, two prospective buyers had pitched council on uses from craft shows to cornhole leagues, and when the president polled the room, two council members and the mayor supported selling while two council members wanted more information first. On Aug. 25, a council member agreed to get prices for filling the pool in, compacting it and maintaining the ground, and the minutes say "Council will decide at the October meeting if they will sell the pool property." Whether the Aug. 19 auction happened, and what council decided in October, is not in any posted record.

How to attend or comment

The meeting is at 7 p.m. at Bernville Borough Hall, 6602 Bernville Rd. The agenda's announcements (item 1.3) say the chance to speak is "limited to residents and/or taxpayers of the Borough of Bernville and registered guests," that comments must follow the borough's Public Comment Policy, and that anyone registering as a guest must give the topic in advance and stick to it. All guests sign an attendance form at the end of the table. Public comment on agenda items comes early, at item 2.2, and "Community Input" comes near the end, at item 5.1. The agenda does not say how to register as a guest; the borough office number on its website is 484-769-8594. Council's next workshop is Tuesday, Nov. 24, and the budget vote is set for the Tuesday, Dec. 1 regular meeting, both at 7 p.m., per the meeting schedule. For every Berks municipality's meeting night, see our schedule guide.