https://triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/freeport-seeking-more-grant-funding-for-new-sewage-plant-to-keep-consumer-bills-down/
Freeport seeking more grant funding for new sewage plant to keep consumer bills down
Freeport is continuing to seek more funding for a proposed $16.9 million sewage treatment plant.
In January, the borough received an $11 million state grant. But officials are looking for more sources of funding to avoid a bank loan to finance the remaining $5.9 million.
A borough analysis in February determined, if the borough took out a $5.9 million loan at 3.18% interest for 20 years, customers’ monthly bills would roughly double.
The average customer would pay $85.42 per month — $36.41 for sewage use and $49.01 for debt service.
That new sewage rate is too high, by $15 a month, under the federal Environmental Protection Agency affordability index. Although the borough is not bound by the index, it wants to keep rate increases close to it, council President Clint Warnock said.
“We’re still attempting to get additional grants and other funds,” he said. “However, our best bet is to attempt to achieve the affordability index through longer financing terms or finding a lending institution to give us a lower rate.”
Several borough officials plan to meet with state officials March 23 to try to identify other funding sources to reduce the monthly costs.
Mayor Jim Swartz is talking with federal lawmakers to secure more grant money or a low-interest loan.
“I don’t want to overburden taxpayers with $70 and $80 bills with all the other taxes and the prices of gas today,” he said. “They are getting hit enough.”
Warnock said Friday he hopes to have the funding issues settled by late April.
As council works out the details of the massive sewage project, Warnock asked Kevin Creagh of KLH Engineering to design the plant that could still operate when the Allegheny River reaches a flood level of 26 feet.
During flooding, sewage backflow enters residents’ basements in the lower part of town near the river.
The current sewage treatment plant, built in 1964, is unable to process all the material sent to it, with raw sewage spilling into Buffalo Creek near its junction with the Allegheny River.
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