Freeport officials are seeking $11 million in Pennsylvania Investment Authority funds to help pay for a new sewage plant.

Council unanimously passed a resolution to that effect Monday night.

Kevin Creagh of KLH Engineers said the deadline to apply was Wednesday, and PennVEST officials may approve the request in December.

Creagh hopes most of the money comes in the form of grants, but the most likely scenario involves a low-interest 30-year loan.

The estimated total project cost, including construction, engineering and administrative fees, is $16.9 million.

The borough would have to acquire about $6 million more should PennVEST funding be approved.

Council President Clinton Warnick said he hopes there are funds available for Freeport in the federal infrastructure bill.

“The $11 million is just the limit that PennVEST will contribute potentially in loans and grants,” he said. “We’re going to have to take out another loan or somehow get another grant. Some of the other avenues that we’ve had had dried up since covid. … We can only take on so much debt and pass it on to our citizens.”

Borough officials talked about the limitations on passing the costs on to residents in August.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency sets a benchmark, called the Affordability Index, for repaying the debt a community takes on in doing such projects.

It is based on what the sewage system’s users pay in rates — the primary source of funds to repay that debt. It is designed to keep communities from taking on a debt load that results in too heavy a financial burden for ratepayers.

The benchmark is 2% of whatever a community’s median income is. According to Creagh, Freeport’s median income is $42,250 per year. Two percent of that is $845.

Broken down into 12 monthly rate payments, that comes to $70.42. That would include the current $35 base rate for 2,000 gallons of sewage.

That’s the figure council must stay under.

The borough has studied having a new plant for years. It is the second phase of a long-term control plan with the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The first phase involved moving an overflow pipe from the boat docks to farther down Buffalo Creek, as well as other overflow improvements.

Those projects cost about $920,000 and were funded through a PennVEST loan.

The borough’s 50-year-old sewage treatment plant needs upgrades to meet state and federal regulations.

It can handle 350,000 gallons per day, while the proposed plant is designed for 600,000 gallons per day.

“It’s an environmental benefit,” Warnick said. “The current plant isn’t capable of handling the flows of sewage and water when it rains.”

Craegh said it is more financially feasible to build a new plant than to try to bring the old one up to par. He said there are multiple upgrades that come with building from scratch.

“The new plant will minimize the current hydraulic overload situation of too much flow to the plant,” he said. “It will also disinfect using ultraviolet light, eliminating the need for chlorine. The sequencing batch reactor process also helps with nutrient discharge limits of nitrogen and phosphorous to Buffalo Creek.”

Plant design was completed by the end of last year, and DEP issued permits between June and July.

The goal is to put the project out for bids in the spring, award a contract next summer and complete construction before fall 2024.

“The timing of the beginning of the project will be dependent on what kind of funding we can get in order to help defray the costs,” Warnick said. “We’re hoping we can afford it, but we’re going to need some help.”

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