Mar 3, 2016 2 min read

The Mt. Pleasant Township Municipal Authority board hopes to award bids for construction of a sewer system by the second quarter of 2017, according to KLH engineer Steve Greenberg.

The $19 million plan to serve 600 residents in Westland, Southview and Hickory was delayed after hangups with the length of a required public comment period and unexpected engineering studies, according to board Chairman Paul Battista.

“We thought we budgeted very well, but we ran into things that we weren’t expecting, like required archeological studies and researching the rights of way in these neighborhoods,” Battista said.

The board presumed a 30-day public comment period would be sufficient, similar to other legal notices, but representatives from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection required between a 45- and 60-day comment period, Battista said.

“The ad for (public comment ran Feb. 9), so that should last well through March,” said Treasurer George Yonker.

With the delays with the revised Act 537 municipal plan being submitted to DEP, Battista said the board hopes Cecil Township and Mt. Pleasant Township supervisors approve their updated plans in April. The plans are available for review at the Mt. Pleasant Township building, and Battista said he will have the plans online within the next two weeks.

To move the project forward, financing will be needed, according to Greenberg.

“The authority will need a line of credit. We’ll need to still have approved actual design plans and to acquire property (in Westland) for the sewage treatment plant,” Greenberg said. The board is receiving roughly $30,000 in Local Share Account funds that will be released in August, Yonker said.

Cecil is taking on Southview’s wastewater for $6.2 million, while Mt. Pleasant expects the cost to be $4.5 million. Southview is split between Cecil and Mt. Pleasant townships. PENNVEST, the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority, which will first approve any loans, said the monthly user rate will likely be $95, according to the Feb. 9 legal ad submitted by the authority board. The tap-in fees reported in July were $7,500. Battista said “the goal is to work that money down to be more affordable.”