SANATOGA PA – Although it wasn’t a winner last month when Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) announced the recipients of state H20 grants to meet local water supply and sewer needs, Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township will continue to press its case for an award in next year’s second round of funding.

Installing these things isn't cheap.

The township intends to apply for up to $3 million to improve its sewer system, as it complies with a state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) consent agreement to find and close off water infiltration from illegal or natural sources, township Manager Rodney Hawthorne recently (July 23, 2009) told the Board of Commissioners.

Illegal hook-ups, such as draining a rooftop gutter directly into the sewer system, and cracks in the system’s antiquated piping, both unnecessarily add water that increases the amount to be processed daily at Pottstown’s nearby waste water treatment plant. Lower Pottsgrove’s discharge is treated there under contract with the borough.

As part of its agreement with DEP, the township has already planned installation of new sewer pumps at stations on Sanatoga and Porter Roads, Hawthorne said. Other equipment will be upgraded, and crews will snake video cameras down into sewer lines in an attempt to visually find water that shouldn’t be entering the system.

That work is expected to be completed next year. Its $1.4 million cost is being paid for with additional fees charged by the Lower Pottsgrove Sewer Authority to developers, in exchange for their ability to construct new homes in the township.

The extra RDU – residential dwelling unit – fees amount to $3,000 per new home, Hawthorne said, which raises a builder’s total sewer system cost to about $5,500 per unit. Ultimately, he noted, those costs are passed on to buyers in the form of higher new home prices.

Future sewer improvements will be needed too, almost $7 million worth, and that’s why the township has its eye on next year’s grants. A new sewer line, 7,000 feet long, to be laid from the township to the treatment plant is estimated to cost between $2 and $3 million. Upgrades to the plant itself to accept the township’s discharge will cost millions more.

Competition for the grants is keen, though. For the $500 million handed out last month by the CFA statewide, the agency received 728 applications valued at more than $2.6 billion.

Consequently, the township Sewer Authority has enlisted the help of the McCullough Consulting Group LLC, an economic development lobbying firm headed by former state Community and Economic Development Secretary Sam McCullough. The company will provide services and guidance to the authority in re-working its H20 application for 2010.

Neither Hawthorne or commissioners mentioned McCullough’s retention during the board’s last meeting. However, recently posted minutes of the commissioners’ July 6 meeting show that, following an executive session, the board unanimously voted to have the authority reimburse the township “for expenses paid to the McCullough Group with regard to any grants received on its behalf.”

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of July 23):

• Township Seeks More Money For Sewers
• Commissioners On Vacation Tonight
• Antiquated Files Headed For Township Shredder
• Board Approves Interchange Mapping Costs
• Commissioners OK Zoning Board Appointments
• No Need To Ask Them Twice
• Township Says No To Sunnybrook Grant, Citing Risks
• Commissioners Cancel Next Meeting

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail.
Got news for us? E-mail The Post.