Chapel Downs residents in Harmar should see end to sewer line woes in 2023

Two Harmar sewage projects are set to move forward in 2023 because the township received two county gambling revenue grants.

Matt Pitsch, township engineer, said the township has received two grants from Allegheny County’s Gaming Economic Development and Tourism Fund.

He said one is a 2022 grant the township applied for to use on the Chapel Downs sanitary sewer line improvement project.

The other, Pitsch said, is for $45,000, which will help pay for the work on the Highlands Woods sewage pump station.

Supervisors Chairman Bob Seibert viewed the news as an endorsement of the township’s planning.

“Our strategies have worked out to where we’re getting some good response,” he said.

Seibert referred to a “40-year-old problem” that the township now hopes to resolve.

Sewage backups are at the crux of the problem in Chapel Downs, Pitsch said.

About a dozen households have been affected, he said.

“There have been residents who have had problems, historically, with backups,” he said, adding the central area affected is along Bromley Circle.

Last year, Pitsch said, the township opted for a short-term fix to give residents some immediate relief. That was done through the installation of backflow valves on the lateral lines into the homes.

With the grant, the township will be able to go for a more permanent fix through the sewer line repair, he said.