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Resident presents record of alleged monitoring failures by New Freedom Bureau Water Authority; council cuts microphone during public comment
Summary
At a New Freedom Borough Council meeting, resident Devin Taylor read a series of water‑system violation IDs he said occurred from federal fiscal years 2021–2025 and said the New Freedom Bureau Water Authority had multiple failures to monitor or report. Council leadership interrupted and cut his microphone during public comment.
Devin Taylor, a resident, told the New Freedom Borough Council during public comment that he has documentation showing multiple monitoring-and-reporting violations by the New Freedom Bureau Water Authority spanning federal fiscal years 2021–2025.
Taylor read a series of violation identifiers and dates he said came from enforcement records, including entries he labeled as “failure to monitor or report” and violations citing disinfectant residual and groundwater rules. He told the council he would leave copies of the documents with borough staff.
The substance of Taylor’s remarks focused on specific enforcement entries. Taylor said the violations include recent entries he dated 05/19/2025 and several between 2021 and 2024. He characterized the pattern as “roughly 20 to 25 violations” and said some notices listed later as “compliance achieved” after enforcement actions. Taylor urged the council to acknowledge the failures and apologize on behalf of the authority.
Council leadership interrupted Taylor’s reading multiple times. A council member told him his remarks were not in order and that the item was not on the agenda; the chair ordered the microphone cut so the remarks would not appear on the video record. Taylor continued to press his points about the records, and at the end of the meeting repeated the list of violation IDs and dates for the record.
The council did not discuss or announce any formal follow-up or factual confirmation of the violation list during the meeting. No borough staff member presented enforcement documents or an official response on the record at the hearing.
Why it matters: Water monitoring and reporting are elements of regulatory compliance for public water systems. Residents raised concerns in public comment alleging multiple monitoring or reporting lapses by the New Freedom Bureau Water Authority; the council did not resolve those claims at the meeting and did not record a staff presentation or action addressing them.
Where things stand: Taylor said he left copies of the violation information with borough officials. The council did not take formal action on the claims at the meeting and did not publicly confirm or rebut the specific violation identifiers Taylor read.
