Sewer to be built for Midland village, Chartiers Industrial Park
Sewers might not be among the first things that come to mind when one mentions casino gambling, but thanks in part to the local share of revenue from The Meadows Casino, residents and workers in the village of Midland will have this amenity later this year.
On Thursday, the Washington County commissioners took note of the $1 million local share contribution to the Midland sewer project, which will be part of Canonsburg-Houston Joint Sewer Authority.
As part of the project, 24,223 feet of gravity sanitary sewer lines, 103 manholes, four stream crossings and six road crossings will be constructed, said Kerry Fox, Washington County Redevelopment Authority community development specialist.
The new system will serve about 260 households in the Midland area and Chartiers Industrial Park, home to Marcellus Shale-related firms.
The industrial park contributed $250,000 toward the project, and the potential of job creation was an important component considered by the local share account committee, said Bill Kiehl, vice chairman of the Chartiers Township board of supervisors.
Petrakis Contracting Co. of Monroeville was awarded the $3,091,945 contract.
Kiehl said acquiring property rights-of-way and engineering costs have increased the total to about $3.6 million. Excavation beneath the Houston area has begun, and the project will progress toward Midland. He hopes to see it completed by year’s end, saying the township wants to see two crews working simultaneously.
Kiehl said the additional infusion of cash will reduce the cost of debt service for Midland property owners. “There are quite a few people on fixed incomes,” he told the commissioners.
In 2012, the state Department of Environmental Protection estimated that a quarter of the 277 customers in the area had malfunctioning on-lot sewage treatment systems. Chartiers Township was able to secure a $2,091,945 loan from the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority, known as PennVest.
“If the DEP required them to update their on-lot systems, it would cost them more money,” Kiehl noted. Discussion of both the pros and cons of the project predate Kiehl’s tenure on the board of supervisors, on which he has served for 11 years.