FARRELL, PA. Amendment process starts over fee request
There are no provisions for considering waivers under the current regulations.
FARRELL, Pa. -- City council will have to amend its sewer user's fee ordinance before it can consider a request to waive $82,000 in sewer tap-in fees for the proposed rebuilding of the Steel City Terrace housing development.
The project, a joint effort by the Mercer County Housing Authority and developer Ralph Falbo of Pittsburgh, proposes to tear down the old 100-unit complex on Spearman Avenue and replace it with a complex of 135 units in single-unit, duplex and triplex buildings.
The authority and Falbo have asked city council to waive the tap-in fees normally required to allow those units to use the municipal sewer system.
Solicitor's opinion: Attorney Steve Mirizio, city solicitor, told council Monday that it doesn't have the authority to grant any waivers under terms of its existing sewer ordinance.
He offered an amendment proposal that would set up a waiver review procedure, and council passed the first of two required readings to make it a part of the original ordinance, said Mayor William Morocco.
Final passage is slated for council's Dec. 17 meeting and the request from the authority and Falbo can then be considered, he said.
Morocco has suggested that the city might not be willing to forgo the entire $82,000 but might be more inclined to waive half of the fees.
The project is to begin early next year with the demolition of the existing barracks-style apartment units.
Most of the money for the $28 million project is coming from the federal Hope VI housing program.