Arnold resident Eric Sinclair dished out $3,500 to ensure that electricity at his Tarentum boat dock was up to code.

The Kenneth Avenue resident and avid boater enjoys balmy days and nights at the small space along the Allegheny River where he devotes time from May to October.

The effort appears to be in vain.

Sinclair and the other 33 leaseholders won’t have utilities at the docks, many of which are built up like homes-away-from-home with warm-weather shanties, grills, gaming areas and other vacation-like amenities.

Council shut off electricity and water for the season as a matter of safety and liability, and it could be up to a year before they are switched on again.

“The electric isn’t up to current code, and the water was never up to par,” Borough Manager Dwight Boddorf said.

“The borough never had good oversight down there, and God forbid someone gets hurt. It’s a hazard and an insurance issue. There’s just too much liability.”

Leaseholders were notified in March of the situation.

“I paid an electrician to redo everything, and an inspector said it was fine,” Sinclair said. “I’m up to standards, so I don’t understand why it is getting shut off.

“It wasn’t cheap, and now I can’t even use it.”

Boater Randy Maskas complained that low lighting could lead to increased vandalism.

Bob Hirtz of First Avenue in Tarentum said people need lights on their docks so they don’t fall into the water at night, among other reasons.

“Is the power going to be shut off for one year or permanently?” he asked. “Do we have to carry flashlights? Have solar lights?”

The state Department of Environmental Protection notified the borough in 2016 of violations stemming from the utility deficiencies. At that time, the agency said permits were necessary to operate.

“The borough never applied for them, for whatever reason, and here we are in 2023 still with no permits,” Boddorf said. “I understand that people are upset they spent money. But from our perspective, they shouldn’t have built these places to begin with.”

None of the current council members other than Carrie Fox was in office in 2016. Fox declined to comment on the previous council’s decisions but said the borough has to move forward with safety as a priority.

The borough is one of 35 municipalities across the state that runs its own electric power distribution company.

Code Enforcement Officer Anthony Bruni said the borough’s most recent power manual was posted in 1996.

“The national electric code changes every year,” he said. “That needs to be brought up to date.”

Council voted to have the out-of-date ordinances rewritten but said it will take six months to a year.

In the meantime, dock leaseholders still will be required to pay $700 for the season while the situation is corrected.

Bull Creek Road resident Ray Fortuna argued that the borough will end up spending money to compensate for work that boaters usually do to maintain the riverfront.

“People throw beer cans and Winky’s bags. You’re going to need a full-time borough employee to clean down there,” he said. “Who’s going to keep our beautiful river clean?”

Eric Novak of Brackenridge said he paid an electrician two years ago to inspect his electricity, and it “passed with flying colors.”

Novak said a blanket policy is unfair to those who have done what’s right.

He urged council to allow them to continue using utilities for the season.

Sharon Proietti lives across the street from the river along First Avenue. She said boaters should be given the year to remedy problematic wiring and waterlines.

“I don’t think the notice was done in a timely manner,” she said. “Next year, they can go find a new place if they want.”

Of the 32 people with leases, four took initiative and secured the proper permits on their own, Boddorf said.

Still, council is dealing with other lease violations and hazards, such as ramps and sheds that remain year-round instead of being pulled from the area every November.

“We have two abandoned docks down there that we have to bring in a barge to remove stuff,” Boddorf said. “It’s about $5,000 apiece, and those are tax dollars.”

Council said DEP representatives will inspect the area Thursday.

“There are small little PVC lines down there for water that are definitely not up to code. We have wires wrapped around trees,” Boddorf said. “The DEP could come in and tell us to shut everything down. We don’t know.”

Carol Tallerico of Creighton, East Deer, said it’s an insulting proposition.

“You guys are still charging the same amount of money, but you want to take things away from us,” she said. “A lot of the docks down there are beautiful because we take the time and the money to make them as nice as we can.”

Boddorf said the boat leases are year to year, and that means they can change.

Addressing the safety and liability issues will give council a chance to target fairness as well, he said.

“We don’t have a lottery system or a first-come, first-served list,” he said. “The same people can renew their leases every year, and the number of actual borough residents who have one is only about four.”

He said it’s a fitting time to reenvision the shoreline now that the $4.4 million Three Rivers Heritage Trail is set to be constructed in the coming years.

“When they did meetings for input, people said they wanted public access, docks and fishing,” Boddorf said. “We want to bring that to the area. There’s plenty of room to do public and private docks, and the amount of good that can come from riverfront development should not be underestimated.”

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