Scott seeks grant for sewer system
SCOTT TWP. - With residents along the central sewer line facing a likely rise in their already steep sewer rates, supervisors approved a motion that could offset such an increase.
At Tuesday's special Scott Twp. supervisors meeting, supervisors voted 2-0 to apply for a state grant that would pay Reilly Associates of Pittston to decommission the wastewater treatment plant at the Scott Technology Park and replace it with a gravity sewer line and a connection to the township's public sanitary sewer system.
Chairman David Makala abstained from the vote because he is an employee of Reilly Associates. He will not gain any financial benefit should Reilly Associates work for the township.
The line, starting at the technology park, would run down Mostowski Road to the pump station behind the Joe Terry Civic Center. It would connect approximately 80 EDUs, or equivalent dwelling units, to the central sewer system, which would "substantially reduce" the monthly sewer rate of $78.40, said sewer authority member and Supervisor Michael Giannetta.
"When we were originally doing the project, every additional EDU would lower the monthly bill by 11 cents," Mr. Giannetta said. "Eleven cents multiplied by 80 (EDUs), that's eight or nine dollars (per bill) we could potentially save."
If the sewer rate remains the same, and 80 EDUs are connected to the system, the monthly sewer rate would drop $8.80, or 11 percent, to $69.60.
However, such an occurrence remains unlikely, as the authority has to pay back a $1 million loan it secured earlier this month through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Agency.
The loan, which will be used to fund the resurfacing of the township roads impacted by the massive sewer project, is expected to cost the sewer authority roughly $3 per EDU over its 40-year term.
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