Freeport officials hope South Buffalo can shoulder some sewage plant costs

Freeport Borough is hoping to bring in a partner to share the burgeoning costs of its new sewage treatment plant.

Borough officials will contact South Buffalo supervisors to ask if that township would be interested in having its sewage treated at the new plant.

Freeport officials found out last week the estimated cost of the new plant has spiked to $15.8 million, a 36% jump from the 2011 estimate of $11.6 million.

Freeport officials are fearful of the increased costs that would be passed along to its 850 customers and will seek about 400 to 800 potential customers from South Buffalo to join the system.

South Buffalo has made inquiries about sewage treatment to Freeport over the years, but nothing official.

There are another 200 to 300 homes planned for the area near the Phoenix Golf Course site in Freeport, but that project has experienced several delays.

Freeport’s current plant, built in the 1960s, is not a long-term viable solution with new regulations treating stormwater and sewage coming on board over the next several years, according to officials. Municipalities must have 85% of flow treated by 2023, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Environmental Protection standards. Freeport already received a one-year reprieve on the Jan. 1, 2021, deadline to have a plan submitted to DEP. The design is expected to cost about $900,000.

Freeport also will seek another one-year delay of the deadline to have the new treatment facility operating by 2025. The new plant would take two years to build.

The increased cost would necessitate seeking a variety of loans and grants from various public agencies, such as PennVEST.

Kevin Creagh of KLH Engineering told council Monday to seek the design phase for the new treatment plant, then begin to search for grants once an exact cost is determined.

Another alternative would be to hook up its sewer system with that of the Upper Allegheny Valley Joint Sanitary Authority.

In 2017, Freeport council voted to build a new treatment plant rather than connect with Upper Allegheny Valley.

Officials said earlier that doing so would have only been about $4 per a month per customer cheaper than building a new treatment plant. But Creagh said Upper Allegheny Valley might not be an option because their plant currently is “hydraulically overloaded.”

Freeport also will look at hiring another engineering firm as a sort of second opinion on costs and other factors.

“As a council member and a resident, I have to do my due diligence on this,” said Councilman Justin DeAngelis.

“I understand that this is a generational issue,” Creagh said. “None of you will be on council when this comes up again .”