HOLLIDAYSBURG - A mediator has been assigned to referee a dispute between an elderly Claysburg-area couple and the Greenfield Township Municipal Authority, which wants the couple to use its water instead of their own well water for purposes such as drinking, cooking and bathing.
Veteran Blair County attorney Frank J. Hartye was assigned to mediate the case by Blair County Judge Tim Sullivan. Sullivan ordered Thursday that Hartye hold a mediation session with representatives from both sides.
Hartye's advice or recommendations are not binding, but if his mediation doesn't settle the dispute, Sullivan said that he will settle it.
Sullivan made the decision to try mediation through the Blair County Pro Bono Mediation Process, where attorneys volunteer their services in an effort to resolve civil cases. Hartye is a former Blair County district attorney and an experienced civil court lawyer.
Sullivan heard arguments March 29 by authority attorney Kathy J. Mauk contending that Donald R. and Janet Burket of Bedford Street, Claysburg, were violating a township ordinance because they continued to use their well water even though they had tapped into the authority's new water line.
Donald Burket, represented by Altoona attorney Frederick B. Gieg Jr., has attended at least three hearings since 2007 in which he contended that his wife is allergic to the township's treated water.
Judge Sullivan and the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled in 2007 and 2008 that the Burkets were required to tap into the new water system.
The water line was extended into the house but was attached to a basement sink and the Burkets continued to use their well water, Mauk told Sullivan.
The authority asked Sullivan to order the Burkets to comply with a township ordinance requiring the Burkets use only township water.
No date has been set for the mediation session.
