Delmont Council will wait to decide whether to pursue state grant and potential loan funding for a sewage project whose scope has recently expanded.
Borough engineer Dalton Mack said a new equalization tank, designed to hold sewage and release it slowly, should be designed based on a 10-year summer storm event and sized at 375,000 gallons, rather than the originally proposed 325,000 gallons.
The tank is part of the borough’s plan to comply with a state consent order aimed at eliminating sewage overflows.
The first part of the plan was a $1.34 million project to install a sewage interceptor along Christy Road and to relocate a force main on property in neighboring Salem. Originally, the projected cost for that work and the equalization tank was $4.85 million. On Wednesday, Mack said the most basic version of the equalization tank project is now likely to cost $5.5 million.
The borough’s sewage committee has been discussing whether to pursue funding for the project through the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority, known as PennVEST, which provides grants to partially fund projects and covers the remainder with low-interest loans.
Mack said the borough could potentially tackle several sewage problems at once by expanding the scope of its application to PennVEST.
“Given what we’ve seen with the borough pump stations and the fact that you’re going to be doing sewage-related work already for the equalization tank, this is an opportunity to address multiple issues at once,” Mack said.
The borough’s Cramer lift station has required maintenance and work on a monthly basis, according to public works chief Bill Heaps. Mack said the scope of the project could be widened to include the replacement of the pumps at the lift station, the addition of a second lift station in the borough and replacement of an older force main, with the goal of addressing all of Delmont’s current sewage pumping issues at once.
“It’s an option to get you a better price to address these multiple problems, rather than addressing each one individually,” Mack said.
Council President Bob Walczer said he would prefer to package the projects together.
“We kind of told PennVEST that if we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it all at once, rather than nickel-and-diming things,” Walczer said.
Former councilman and sewage committee member Stan Cheyne said if keeping sewage rates the same is the ultimate goal, financing the project through PennVEST may not be the answer.
“If you’re looking at any sort of loan, the sewage rates will need to be adjusted to account for that,” he said.
Councilwoman Julie Walczer said she does not want to see sewage bills increase further.
“I’ve lived in Delmont a long time, and when sewage was initially proposed, it was supposed to be cheaper and easier, and it’s been neither of those things,” she said.
Mack said the borough could be eligible for up to $10 million in total PennVEST funding.
Council opted to table any action until its March meeting.
Tollgate Lane project
Council voted unanimously Wednesday evening to advertise the upcoming sewer replacement project along Tollgate Lane.
As part of its work under the consent order, borough public works conducted smoke and dye testing to identify illegal stormwater connections and defects in the sewage system. The testing revealed multiple defects in the lines along Tollgate Lane.
Borough engineers said the lines, installed nearly 30 years ago, were not built to handle the volume of sewage they receive. That project is backed by more than $580,000 in grants, which will fund it fully. Mack said engineers will prepare a bid package for April.
