A Moscow developer is weighing an offer from the Moscow Sewer Authority that borough officials hope will keep plans to convert the former Academy Street School into an apartment complex on track.
Developer Mark Paradise has said he had expected a project to convert the building into 20 apartments would get credit for its sewer connections when it was a school and was used by about 250 people.
The North Pocono School District closed the Academy Street school in 2009.
Mr. Paradise said he assumed when he bought the property that he would have to pay the standard $7,500 fee to tap into the sewer system 10 times for a total of $75,000 but was instead asked to pay for all 20 because of the borough's residential hookup rules.
"Our project won't support a $150,000 sewer tap fee," Mr. Paradise has said.
He has described the regulations as unnecessary red tape that could derail the project.
James Kanavy, chairman of the Moscow Sewer Authority, said the tapping fee was created through a state formula used to calculate the cost of recuperating money spent on infrastructure upgrades to the sewer plant.
Those upgrades were designed to increase the system's capacity, allowing for up to 600 new units, Mr. Kanavy said.
Mr. Kanavy said it is important to treat everyone the same, and he initially offered Mr. Paradise the same deal as another apartment project at 242 Main St. - $1,500 upfront for each hookup and the remaining $6,000 to be paid back over five years at no interest.
Last week, Mr. Paradise appeared before the sewer authority again. Although he described the meeting as not having gone particularly well, he said both sides are still talking in an effort to keep the project alive.
Moscow Borough Council President Arthur Pencek accompanied Mr. Paradise to the meeting to support the developer. Several members of the council recently agreed the project is important to the borough.
Mr. Kanavy said the authority's latest offer would recognize two sewer hookups the school already had, allow the Academy Street School project to pay $1,200 down, or $21,600, for each hookup, and give developers seven years to pay back the balance for each apartment, which he said would equate to $75 per month per apartment for the duration.
The sewer authority chairman said the same offer was extended to the Main Street project because "no one should get any preference over anyone else."
Mr. Kanavy said Mr. Paradise is weighing the offer. The sewer authority next meets on May 15.
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