State grants will help update water, sewer lines in Ligonier, Mt. Pleasant townships

Ligonier and Mt. Pleasant townships will receive state grants totaling about $760,000 for water and sewer improvements.

The three grants, awarded by the Commonwealth Financing Authority, were announced Monday.

The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County will receive $302,430 to extend a water line to 19 households in Ligonier Township. The authority will replace a deteriorated private line that serves homes on Charlotte and High Acre drives. According to township manager Terry Carcella, the private line has been failing since a gas line was installed over top of it.

“This is a big deal for the residents,” he said. “It was a safety issue for these folks. They had to constantly repair and fix the (water) line.”

The county authority, which supplies water to the residents, is expected to take ownership of the line once the project is completed, Carcella said. The affected residents formed a homeowners association to prepare for the work. The grant requires a 15% local match.

The Mt. Pleasant Township Municipal Authority was approved for grants to assist with two sewer projects — $396,652 to renovate the Shupe’s Run sanitary sewer collection system and $62,050 to install a new sewage pump at the Bridgeport pump station.

The Mt. Pleasant Township authority is expected to chip in a 10% local match for its grants, Manager Stacy Hayes said.

She said the Shupe’s Run sewers, which flow into Mt. Pleasant Borough’s treatment plant, are 45 years old and are in need of repairs and updates, determined through an examination with cameras.

“Having this grant will help us do the areas that are in need first and move forward,” Hayes said.