CITY COUNCIL Sewage backups prompt pleading

Council must decide this week if it wants to take out a bank loan.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Residents from the city's south side implored council to do something about aging sewers that have caused sewage to back up in their basements.
They asked council to approve a $4 million bank loan -- an item that has been discussed by council and the mayor since last spring -- to pay for sewer improvements.
But at Tuesday's caucus meeting, council members seemed more interested in trying to place blame on the mayor and his administration for not aggressively going after a Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority loan than in seeking to solve the immediate sewage woes.
"I said I would like to investigate PENNVEST in March. I feel if the administration would have done its job, we could have gone to PENNVEST and our [sewage user] rates wouldn't be as high," said Councilman Rob Ratkovich.
The rates are expected to increase from $16 to $22 per quarter to pay for a planned $4 million bond issue through a local bank.
Bond issue on hold
The bond issue was put on hold last month when state Rep. Frank LaGrotta of Ellwood City, D-10th, wrote council a letter stating it should be looking at PENNVEST, which offers a lower interest rate.
Tammi Gibson, city business administrator, said she analyzed PENNVEST and bank bonds and determined they would cost about the same. She said that though the bonds had a higher interest rate, PENNVEST required extensive engineering work that would be more costly than the current plan.
She also noted there is no guarantee the city will be able to get the state loan. Gibson said they won't know until March if the loan is approved and work couldn't begin until later in 2005.
Taking out a private loan with bonds will allow the city to start work now, she said. Gibson noted the city also will be earning some interest off the bond money before it is spent.
Deadline
Gibson said she must know by Thursday if city council wants to borrow the money through bonds. She said lawmakers had started the process earlier this month, but LaGrotta's letter put a stop to it. She said since the process was started on Sept. 2 with legal advertisements, they have only 30 days to act.
It's unclear if the majority of city council will support the bond issue.
Councilmen John Russo and Will Quimby said they would agree to it, however.
"At this point, we need to stop bickering over whose fault it is. PENNVEST is good, but you have to do a lot of engineering. I think we're in a place where we have to have it done [now]," Russo said.
Councilwoman Karen DiCarlo said that she is unhappy with the situation, but that she will "do the right thing." She did not explain if that meant approving the loan.
Ratkovich and Council President Christine Sands did not respond when Gibson asked if a majority of council would vote in favor of the loan Thursday.
New problem
Meanwhile, south side residents say they are having sewage backup problems that they never had before.
Brian Smith of Pennsylvania Avenue, whose family has lived in the house for 60 years, said his basement flooded with sewage during the last two rainstorms brought on by hurricane remnants passing through the area.
"If you saw what I had to walk through and what I lost, it's ridiculous," he said.
cioffi@vindy.com