HARMONY — Council members at their meeting Tuesday considered their options in dealing with continuing damage to streets and sidewalks caused by tractor-trailer rigs.

Councilmember Dave Szakelyhidi brought the sidewalk issue to council's attention.

Szakelyhidi said he recently had a tractor-trailer drive up on the sidewalk when an oncoming truck forced the driver off the road, damaging the sidewalks.

“Two trucks physically can't fit on Mercer Street,” Szakelyhidi said, referring to the street on which the incident occurred.

Truck trouble has been a reoccurring issue in Harmony borough. Tractor-trailers often go down roads that are too narrow, ignoring or missing warning signs and following GPS directions.

Last month, one of these trucks headed down Mercer Street and knocked down streetlights and planters while trying to negotiate impossibly tight turns.

Council members recommended several ways to address the issue.

Mayor Cathy Rape recommended approaching US Liner in the hopes that it would take responsibility for the truckers it is involved with.

Additionally, Council President Greg Such recommended, if all else fails, widening Mercer Street a few feet on each side.

Other than that, citizens can file civil suits if their property has been damaged and are encouraged to call police to have a report filed.

Water testing rules

Council also discussed new regulations on water quality in the borough.

The new regulations require Harmony to conduct regular water tests to ensure the water stays within the acceptable levels of cleanliness. It also is required to make a detailed map of all the drainage inlets and outlets. Before, the borough only had to map the outlets.

All of this is to quickly identify and locate areas of excess pollution.

The borough also will be responsible to notify and teach residents in the community about the dangers of pollution and ways to avoid polluting the environment through classes and signs that will be posted around the borough.

In addition to a $500 fee for the permit, the borough has yet to calculate how much this will cost in terms man-hours and other costs.