Latrobe Municipal Authority is poised to update electrical systems at its sewage treatment plant as an unrelated sewage rate hike takes effect.
Many of the electrical components at the Lattanzio Road plant, including the utility service entrance and related circuits, date from the 1980s, authority manager Terri Hauser noted.
“They’ve seen their share of wear and tear, and we are having trouble getting replacement parts,” she said.
The authority also is looking to improve the plant’s firewall protection and make repairs to deteriorating concrete; disconnected, worn wiring; and a rusted conduit.
“It’s going to make it safer all around,” Hauser said of the improvements.
“We’re going to keep what we’re using now until we have the replacements in place,” she said.
She said the authority hopes to seek bids for the project by the coming fall and see work begin by the end of the year.
Hauser said the cost of the improvements should be covered by a $2.6 million, 20-year low-interest state loan that was approved for the project on Thursday.
The Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PennVest) will charge slightly more than 1.7% annual interest during the first five years of the loan’s term and just under 2.2% interest in each of the remaining years, Hauser said.
Word of the project funding comes shortly after a rate hike took effect, on April 1, for the authority’s sewage customers.
The base user rate for 1,000 gallons of wastewater increased by 50 cents, to $3.50, for residential sewage customers and by $1, to $4, for non-residential customers.
The authority’s decision to hike the rates was made independently and in advance of the treatment plant project funding, according to Hauser.
“The price of everything has gone up,” she said, “the cost of running the plant, electricity, gas and chemicals.”
The authority also charges monthly rates of $7.50 each for a debt service fee and an administration/operations fee.
