DUBOIS – On Monday night, the Sandy Township Supervisors heard a sewer system report from Matt Orner of Gwin Dobson & Foreman.
Gwin Dobson & Foreman examined 135,000 linear feet of sewer main lines; 1,231 laterals that connect into the lines; and 616 manhole covers in the township.
It was done through a combination of cameras that were fed through sewer lines; manual inspections; smoke and dye testing; and select inspections of homes.
According to Orner, 54,219 linear feet of the sewer main lines were inspected by camera. He said that 7,766 linear feet of public sewer lines and 2,016 linear feet of private lines will need replacement.
Of the 1,231 inspected laterals, he said that 278 (private) will need repairs; 55 (public) will need replacement; and 42 (public) will need repairs.
Orner said that there were also 348 manholes with problems; however, only 84 will need repairs and 18 will need full replacements.
In terms of specifics, he said the nursing home area was identified as having the largest spike in sewer flows during rain events.
Orner said this area averaged 0.073 million gallons per day during dry weather. During wet weather, it jumped to 2.917 million gallons per day from rain entering the sewer system.
However, Orner repeatedly said parts of the system in need of work are spread throughout.
Repair costs were estimated at $2,500,000 for public sections and $1,650,000 for laterals owned by private citizens and organizations.
According to Orner, repairs – if and when completed – were estimated to lower the billed sewer flows from 20 million gallons per month to around 14 million gallons per month.
The previous billed flow – before the switch to sewer metering – was 9.5 million gallons per month.
Orner said based upon the report, if the funds were borrowed by Sandy Township, the average monthly bill for residents would increase $2-5 per month for 3,000 gallons of use.
However, the township could pay off the debt in about seven years. He said the savings from reduced billing due to repairs could be put toward paying down the debt.
The supervisors discussed ways to complete the repairs in-house, as well as the alternatives to line replacement in order to reduce the costs even more.
Orner noted there were bills in the Pennsylvania Senate geared toward making it easier for communities to repair privately-owned laterals.
It was announced the township had already started making some simple repairs.
Orner recommended that the township purchase and install flow meters for their own data collection. It was also recommended that the township sign a sewer use agreement with DuBois City before moving forward.
Township officials signed the sewer use agreement that Supervisor Mark Sullivan and City Councilman Ed Walsh had formed together. The supervisors thanked both for their efforts.
Jeffers added that he hoped township and city officials would continue negotiating the next agreement instead of putting it off until 2.5 years into the three-year agreement.
Jeffers also said that he had reservations about the agreement but hoped it would bring needed relief to township residents.
