Nearly $12 million is flowing into the area for state-mandated sewage repairs designed to help alleviate pollution.
Cresson, Dale and Meyersdale boroughs received grants and low-interest loans through PENNVEST, an agency that funds infrastructure projects.
The much-needed money is expected to greatly decrease the financial burden on taxpayers in all three communities.
“This is great news – it really is,” said Jerry Held, Dale Borough Council president.
Dale Borough, like all municipalities in the Johnstown Regional Sewage system, has been ordered by state regulators to address a pervasive problem: Water infiltrates and overloads sewage lines, causing the illegal overflow of untreated waste.
But Dale is facing a much bigger project than most other communities because it has an outdated “combined” system – meaning one network of pipes handles both surface water and sewage.
So borough officials have been forced to undertake construction of a new sewage system, a project with a price tag that has ballooned to an estimated $7 million, Held said.
Residents’ sewage rates already have been raised. But the PENNVEST money will help ease sticker shock, especially since most of the borough’s $5.96 million allocation comes in the form of a grant.
“It’s going to help our residents quite a bit,” Held said.
Officials in Meyersdale were singing a similar tune Monday.
Borough officials will use their $2.4 million loan to remove nearly 2,000 tons of sludge from their lagoon treatment plant and rehabilitate or replace more than a mile of sewage lines.
The project will help alleviate overflows into the Casselman River and Flaugherty Creek.
Without PENNVEST funding, officials would have had to borrow the money from a bank at a higher interest rate, council President Bud Edmunds said.
“There aren’t many options,” he said. “The effect would have been to raise sewer rates even higher than we already have to.”
In Cresson Borough, the municipal authority landed a $1.3 million loan and a $2.3 million grant.
That will go toward replacement of more than three miles of pipe, which will curb sewage overflows into the Little Conemaugh River.
In a separate project that will require additional funding, officials also are planning to upgrade their sewage-treatment plant, said Rich Wray of Hegemann & Wray Consulting Engineers, the authority’s engineering firm.
“We’re very thankful that this money came through,” Wray said.
Local News
3 municipalities receive nearly $12M for sewer repairs
- Local News
-
-
Proposed bill would expand use of traffic-light cameras
Some call it the hand of “big brother,” others are convinced cameras at signal lights would be effective in curbing red-light runners and ultimately saving lives.
-
Minister's trial date set
An issue has been resolved over the report from an examination of a girl allegedly taken by her mother to a Bedford motel to have sex with a traveling minister, clearing the way for a trial.
-
AP: Almost half of new veterans seek disability
America’s newest veterans are filing for disability benefits at a historic rate, claiming to be the most medically and mentally troubled generation of former troops the nation has ever seen.
-
Geistown beginning crime watch program
Residents will patrol Geistown streets in the coming weeks as part of a community watch program.
-
Persons of the Week: Nanty Glo vets will remember fallen comrades
Michael Kurtz, Tom Kasecky and Steve Kasecky will be among members of the Loy A. Douglass Post 3489 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Nanty Glo who will be honoring fallen veterans today, Memorial Day.
-
AG candidates face potential conflicts of interest
Both candidates for Pennsylvania attorney general have family ties that could pose a conflict of interest for the one who is elected as the state’s next chief legal officer.
-
Lawmakers: Capitol rallies unpersuasive
Nancy Richey stepped to the podium with a microphone at the Capitol rotunda with the hope that the right people would hear her message.
-
Richland closer to new chief
The search for Richland’s next police chief is winding down.
-
In brief: Thunderstorm downs trees, knocks out power
A late Sunday afternoon thunderstorm brought high winds, hard rain and hail to the Cambria-Somerset region.
- District Deaths May 28, 2012
- More Local News Headlines
-
Beryl Makes Landfall on Florida Coast
UN Blames Syrian Forces for Shelling Houla
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
