SOUTH ABINGTON TWP. - An estimated $34 million project to upgrade the wastewater treatment plant moved one step closer to construction when board members Wednesday voted to advertise the project.
At Wednesday night's Abington Regional Wastewater Authority meeting, project engineer James Elliot, of Gannett Fleming Inc., said the design phase is completed and the project is ready to move "full steam ahead."
Board members will hold a bid opening Jan. 6.
Construction on the treatment plant in South Abington Twp., which serves sewer users in Clarks Summit, Clarks Green and South Abington, is scheduled for April. The project must be completed by October 2015.
"I am extremely happy with the direction this project is headed," authority Chairman Donald Snyder said. "Financially, we are doing much better than we originally expected."
Also at the meeting, board members voted to appoint Dilworth Paxson LLP as bound counsel at $21,000 annually, plus $7,000 in fees.
"That's a very, very competitive rate," board member David Gromelski said.
Board members will review the bank loans and underwriters they requested for proposal at a Nov. 28 meeting to determine how they will fund the remaining portion of the multimillion-dollar project.
On Oct. 23, the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority approved a $9.7 million loan - nearly 30 percent of the project's cost - to the wastewater authority.
The loan carries an interest rate of 1 percent for the first five years and 1.868 percent for the remaining 15.
The project is designed to bring the treatment plant into compliance with a federal mandate meant to reduce pollution that eventually ends up in the Chesapeake Bay.
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