MAHANOY CITY - The planned sewage distribution project in Mahanoy Township is in a holding pattern for the time as additional funding is sought from the federal government to help reduce the burden on township residents.
The project, estimated to cost about $11 million, was discussed at Thursday's meeting of the Mahanoy Township Board of Supervisors, with James J. Rhoades Jr., project manager with Alfred Benesch & Co., answering most of the questions from the public on the project status which has not reached Act 537 approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection.
According to the DEP website, municipalities are required to develop and implement comprehensive official plans that provide for the resolution of existing sewage disposal problems, provide for the future sewage disposal needs of new land development and provide for future sewage disposal needs of the municipality. This official plan is sometimes called the "base" plan or the "Act 537 plan."
During his engineering report, Rhoades said a meeting had been held at the DEP Northeast Regional Office in February with Benesch and township officials to discuss the project. Rhoades said Benesch recently met with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and submitted information for a new funding analysis.
"The good news they (USDA) gave us is that we do qualify for a 75 percent grant funding package," Rhoades said. "However, they still need to do some more assessment on how that impacts the rates."
Rhoades said the township received a recommendation to renegotiate to reduce treatment costs with the Mahanoy City Sewer Authority, whose plant will receive sewage through the township distribution system when constructed.
Supervisor Chairwoman Sharon Chiao said the meeting at DEP's northeast office provided what the cost would be to residents per month with the estimated project cost and the current level of funding.
"They suggested that they thought our sewer project would cost $107 per month per home or EDU (equivalent dwelling unit)," Chiao said. "We said that is not feasible. We cannot go with that, and if that is the case, then they would need to find more money for that since our residents would not be able to pay it."
Chiao said she would hope to bring the monthly cost down to $45 to $50 per month.
"The three main components of your rates are operations and maintenance, treatment costs to the sewer authority, and your debt service on the loan necessary to construct the system," Rhoades said. "If we can get a 100 percent grant instead of the debt service, then we pay zero on that. Then what will be left is the operations and maintenance of the system and the cost to the authority."
In addition to the monthly fee, the property owner will also be responsible for the tap-in fee to connect to the sewer main line, which is estimated at $2,000, and the cost to run the lateral line from that connection to the home, which will vary depending on the distance from the main line.
Rhoades said there is a formula used by the various state agencies to determine what would be affordable to residents, which should be about $50 to $60 per month.
Supervisors James Stevens said that the township cannot apply for funding until the Act 537 plan is approved by DEP.
"Now, if we can't get it (the monthly fee) down, then DEP would term it be 'unimplementable,' " Rhoades said. "The Act 537 plan must be implementable. Our plan was denied. We can't make it affordable right now the way it is. Right now, DEP has not issued a consent order forcing you to do this, so you don't have your feet to the fire to do this."
Resident Faith Ward asked Rhoades about the aerial photography for a topographical map that was taken of the township for the project at a cost of about $60,000 rather than using those from the U.S. Geological Survey. Rhoades said in order to determine the overall contours in the detail necessary to plan for distribution lines, pump stations and other information, the USGS material is not adequate.
"The reason we did it now is because when you get your Act 537 plan approved, you can get 50 percent reimbursement," Rhoades said. "Otherwise, you would have to do it in the design phase (after Act 537 approval) and then it would become part of the construction costs."