A brigade of construction workers and earthmoving equipment soon will descend on Dale Borough.
After years of planning, construction of an entirely new sewage system is set to commence next month.
And officials say vehement opposition from some residents has died down since state regulators made it clear in early 2008 that the borough had no choice but to undertake the multimillion-dollar project.
“It’s really turned around,” said Jerry Held, Borough Council president. “Since then, we really haven’t had any negative feedback.”
A crackdown by the state Department of Environmental Protection means that all municipalities in the Johnstown Regional Sewage system must address a big problem: Surface water is infiltrating sewage lines, causing the illegal overflow of untreated human waste.
However, three of those communities – Dale, East Conemaugh and Ferndale boroughs – face an even bigger challenge because they have “combined” underground systems.
That means one pipe handles both surface water and sewage.
Dale must build an entirely new sewer system, leaving the old pipes to handle water runoff.
And that will mean digging up a fair portion of the borough.
That job falls to Continental Construction Inc. of Ridgway, Elk County, which landed two contracts totaling $4.91 million.
“In August, they’ll probably start work,” said Steve Sewalk of
The EADS Group, the borough’s engineer for the project.
The job will take eight months to a year, Sewalk said, and it likely will start in the heavily traveled Bedford Street area.
Motorists can expect that street to be closed for a time.
In total, the contractor will install about 26,000 feet of new sewer line throughout the borough. Continental’s bids came in lower than the expected cost of $5.4 million, but that doesn’t mean Dale officials won’t need the extra cash they’ve allocated for the project.
“It’s going to help us out with project overruns,” Sewalk said, adding that complications can be expected when tearing up old underground utilities.
“No one who’s alive knows where everything is,” he said.
When the project is finished, there will be no tap-in fee for residents. And for those who signed right-of-way agreements with the borough, crews will install lateral lines within 5 feet of a home – significantly reducing those homeowners’ cost to hook into the new lines.
“A lot of people took advantage of that, but there were quite a few who didn’t,” Sewalk said.
Residents already are bearing part of the cost, since the borough’s sewage fees have risen from about $5 monthly to approximately $15 per month.
But, barring any unforeseen circumstances, rates are not expected to go any higher than that thanks to a financing package from a state agency called PENNVEST.
In April, the state announced that Dale had received a nearly $5.3 million grant and a $660,000 loan to put toward the sewage project. Such a large allocation for a single community was made possible by the federal government’s economic-stimulus program, officials said.
“That’s great for the borough residents,” Held said.
On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter stopped in Dale to praise the sewage project.
Before he made a surprise switch to the Democratic party in April, Specter had taken heat from fellow Republicans due to his support for President Barack Obama’s stimulus plan.
But Specter said projects like the one in Dale show that the money is being put to good use.
“The stimulus package is very important for the nation,” Specter said. “It’s a sign ... that we’re moving ahead.”
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