CURWENSVILLE – In a letter dated Sept. 5, the Curwensville Municipal authority responded to questions from citizens concerned with a proposed ordinance.
At the Aug. 13 meeting of the Curwensville Borough Council the citizens in attendance not previously on the agenda were asked by Council President Dave McNaul to leave their questions in written format for proper examination and informed answers.
Ordinance No. 463 is proposed by the CMA in response to restrictions by the Department of Environmental Protection. CMA has been instructed by the DEP to eliminate the infiltration of surface water into their sanitary sewer system. In order to accomplish this the DEP recommends the CMA address defective private sewer laterals.
A total of 15 questions were submitted by five residents.
The total number of citizens who have come forward with concerns is “less than 10,” according to CMA correspondence. This translates to the CMA that there is not a widespread concern for the ordinance.
In the letter to McNaul, Gordon Bloom, chairman of CMA, commented, “We understand that there is opposition by some customers to the proposed borough ordinance and the need to replace their lateral lines but on the other hand we have only heard from less than 10 customers opposed to the ordinance.
“Approximately 412 customers in favor of the ordinance have already replaced their lateral sanitary sewer lines (some ran into some problems with replacing their line but worked until they accomplished the challenge since it was the right thing to do) and feel that their neighboring streets should do the same,” read the letter from Bloom to McNaul.
Currently a 500,000 gallon equalization tank is in place to collect the extra water during rain. However, the tank does overflow at times causing illegal flow into the west branch of the Susquehanna River. The last overflow of the equalization tank was in January 2005.
Bloom addressed each question in the letter individually.
The letter does clarify that the infiltration of surface water is not coming from faulty man holes. In addition, infiltration is also not a result of the sanitary sewer containing a pre-existing storm system.
There are solutions available for every home in every situation. The CMA also presented solutions for citizens that were concerned with having to dig up the basement floors of their homes.
CMA is looking at assistance through the “504 Rural Housing Loan/Grant Program” through USDA/Rural Development for home owners with very low incomes that would assist with the cost of lateral line replacement.
The questions and answers are available by contacting the CMA at 236-2631 and requesting a copy. Also, included in the packet are a list of lateral taps (new connections), replacements and repairs dating from 1993, major projects of the CMA from 1989 to the present including costs, a listing of new sewer mainlines and smoke testing and a letter from the DEP referencing private sewer laterals.