Delmont seeks bids for 1st phase of $4.85 million sewage project

Delmont officials are seeking bids for the first phase of a proposed $4.85 million project to address sewage overflows.

As part of a consent order finalized with the state Department of Environmental Control in late April, borough officials have proposed relocating and replacing a gravity line and a force main that run through Salem despite being part of Delmont’s system. The lines run through the property of the Rock Springs Trust, where, during significant wet weather, manholes have discharged a mix of storm water and untreated sewage into a tributary of Beaver Run.

A $311,000 grant from the state’s Small Water and Sewer Program will be put toward relocating the sanitary sewer line.

The second phase, if deemed necessary, is the construction of a 325,000-gallon equalization tank to hold excess flow — which also includes storm water infiltrating the system, a problem the borough and many of its neighbors will address as part of a second consent order with the DEP.

Borough engineer Kevin Brett estimated that borough sewage rates would increase from $65 to $75 monthly after the project is complete.

In other borough business:

• Council’s annual budget workshops will be at 6 p.m., Oct. 20 and Nov. 5 at the borough building, 77 Greensburg St. Council and staff typically work through the coming year’s projected revenues at the first meeting, then expenditures at the second.

• The Delmont Police Department will host a food drive Nov. 22 to benefit the Westmoreland County Food Bank.

The department has been selling Delmont Police t-shirts to collect money for the food bank as well. They are available at the borough building for $20.