WEST MILFORD The unlikely prospect of something sweet coming from sewerage emerged on Wednesday with the announcement of compensation for the town. Wanaque Borough, through their Mayor-elect Dan Mahler, offered $150,000 to be paid over 10 years to West Milford in return for the township stepping down from the Regional Sewerage Authority. The West Milford Council has not agreed to the deal. West Milford, Ringwood and Wanaque have been joint members of the authority since its inception in the 1970s. In order to break up the group all three towns must agree by resolution to dissolve the authority in the same calendar year. On Dec. 6 of this year the majority of the West Milfords council voted to dissolve the authority and remove the town from any connection to the sewerage authority. In a rare move, Mayor Joseph DiDonato vetoed the move taken by his council just one week following the council decision. This placed the matter back on the councils agenda where a two-thirds majority could override the mayors decision if agreed upon. In the midst of this discussion, Mahler stepped forward to declare Wanaques intention to offer compensation to West Milford, a move which surprised the council. Mahler first attempted to redress comments made which suggested West Milford has paid in excess of $500,000 into the sewerage plant and should therefore receive a full refund before leaving. He said that the payment made in 1996 by West Milford as a result of legal action was for partial payment towards engineering costs of a project which was cancelled by West Milford. Mahler said, The payment that was made was not to buy into a plant. The payment that was made was to reimburse Wanaque for a plant that was never built. That version of events was disputed by Councilman Phil Weisbecker who alleged that West Milford did buy two seats on the commission which oversees the sewerage authority as ordered by the judge who presided over the legal case in 1996. Wanaque and Ringwood have agreed to the dissolution but will provide sewerage removal free of charge to two of their schools for 10 years and will cover the costs of Ringwoods waste water management plan for the next three years up to a maximum of $20,000. Councilman James Warden affirmed his commitment to getting West Milford out of the authority, Im going to stand by what we said two weeks ago, its irresponsible to stay in this unless you want to keep that door cracked open sometime down the road to bring in high density development. We should get out of this and we should do it tonight. A vote to override the mayors veto was agreed by 3-2 of council members, however this did not meet the two-thirds majority required. West Milford therefore remains within the authority and will do so into 2007. A written offer from Wanaque with legal agreement to pay the compensation may initiate new moves to dissolve the authority. On Jul. 10 of this year, Wanaque Borough Council voted unanimously to dissolve the authority. Wanaque wishes to own and control the sewerage facility outright because they are the plants biggest user by a vast margin. Ringwood Council was scheduled to hold a meeting on Thursday night (Dec. 28) to consider the offer put to them.