Corry City Council voted unanimously to stop approving new sewer connections from Wayne and Columbus townships until their overdue bills are settled, a move that immediately stalled a request tied to a planned home on Country Club Road. The city says Columbus Township owes more than $750,000 and Wayne Township owes more than $400,000 in past-due sewer-service invoices, pushing the combined debt past $1.1 million.
The vote came during a special meeting held before the council's regular work session on Monday, according to The Corry Journal. A City of Corry meeting notice confirms the session was scheduled for 6 p.m. that day specifically for the consideration of additional sewer connections. Council's motion cited material breaches of the 2008 sewer services agreement between Corry and the two townships, and it stated that the city has reasonable grounds to withhold approval of future connections because of the overdue balances.
A Stalled Request for a New Country Club Road Home
The freeze caught a specific project in its path. Wayne Township had sent an Oct. 13 letter requesting a new sewer connection for a planned single-family home at 14474 Country Club Road, owned by Thomas and Julie Ruth, the report notes. Council member Charles “Chuck” Gray first moved to receive and file that letter, a motion the council passed unanimously.
But Gray then made a second motion: to table all requests for new sewer connections from Columbus Township, the Columbus Township Sewer Authority, Wayne Township and the Wayne Township Sewer Authority, including the Ruths' request. Per the council motion, as relayed by the paper, both townships have failed to pay Corry in full for sewer units already connected. Corry says it will revisit pending connection requests only once a township pays its balance in full, reaches a payment arrangement satisfactory to the city, or resolves the dispute, including through litigation.
A Separate Subdivision Still Moving Forward
Not every sewer-related item hit a wall that night. Council also directed the acting city administrator, city solicitor and city engineer to draft a developer's agreement and related documents for a proposed residential subdivision, voting unanimously to move the paperwork ahead. City solicitor Lydia Caparosa referred to the project as the Roth subdivision and said the developer may extend a sewer line as part of the build.
That developer's agreement will spell out the developer's responsibilities and the costs the developer would absorb, and the broader package could include agreements covering stormwater and sewer extension connections, per the same account. The documents are expected to come back before council for review and action at a future meeting.
Rate Fight Carries a Six-Figure Legal Price Tag
The hookup freeze lands amid a longer-running dispute over what the townships should be paying for sewer service. Corry expects to spend about $180,000 next year on litigation over sewer rates with Wayne and Columbus townships, city official William Roche said, according to the same report. A February 2026 council meeting included discussion of unpaid sewer bills from neighboring townships, the paper reported in a separate Corry Journal report.
Wayne Township's own account of the billing fight, reported by Citizen Portal, shows just how far apart the two sides are. Township Chairman Sander said Wayne paid $5.03 per EDU in calendar year 2024 before Corry informed the township its new billing would jump to $51.60 per EDU. “Our solicitor advised us not to pay, because we want to know why,” Sander said, explaining the township's decision to withhold payment pending an explanation for the increase.
Columbus Township Has Already Moved to Raise Its Own Rates
Columbus Township, for its part, has been adjusting its own rate structure separately from the Corry dispute. The township's monthly sewer rate had sat at $25 per EDU since 1999 even as the cost of providing service climbed above $29 per EDU, a prior Corry Journal report found. In response, the Columbus Township General Authority board voted to raise its monthly rate to $40 per EDU, with the vacant-property rate also set to rise from $16 to $20 per EDU beginning June 1.
The authority additionally said it would begin processing sewer billing and payments in-house, a shift expected to save roughly $750 a month in billing fees, while Corry continues billing and collecting for water services only. Those rate changes stand apart from the past-due balances cited in Monday's council vote, but they underscore the financial strain shaping the broader standoff between Corry and the townships it serves.
