Westmoreland municipal authority OKs buying Mt. Pleasant sewage plant

Mt. Pleasant is selling its sewage plant to the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County, which has agreed not to raise rates for the plant’s 3,200 customers for at least two years, officials said.

The municipal authority board on Wednesday approved the deal to buy the borough’s sewage plant for $3 million and pay two loans: a $1.2 million loan from PennVEST and a $700,000 loan from Scottdale Bank & Trust.

The customers served by the plant will not see rate hikes for two years under terms of the agreement being finalized between MAWC, the borough and the municipal authority, said Brian Hohman, MAWC business manager. The plant serves about 1,900 customers in the borough and about 1,300 customers in Mt. Pleasant Township, Hohman said.

Mt. Pleasant council approved the agreement on Monday, said Jeff Landy, borough manager.

“The timing was right to sell the plant,” Landy said.

Michael Kukura, municipal authority manager, said there had been discussions about buying the plant for the past few years.

“For a borough our size, it’s hard to be in the sewage business,” Landy said.

Borough officials have not yet decided how to spend the $3 million.

“The ink is not even dry on it,” Landy said of the agreement.

Stacey Hayes, manager of the Mt. Pleasant Township Municipal Authority, said Wednesday the authority was not aware that the borough was selling the plant.

Customers in the Shupe’s Run section of the township are served by the borough’s sewage plant, Hayes said. The township authority pays Mt. Pleasant for serving its customers, then bills those customers, Hayes said.