Residents want help with sewer line costs

HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Some Sample Road residents are looking for financial help from the city to pay for a sanitary sewer line to be built along the street.
About 10 residents came to a city commissioners meeting Wednesday to press their case, said City Manager Gary Hinkson.
The city was holding a public hearing on an ordinance approving the sewer line construction and setting assessments against properties that will be required to tap into the new line.
A final vote on the ordinance is set for Oct. 27.
Concerned about cost
Hinkson said residents are concerned about the cost of assessments and asked if the city sought state or federal grants to help defray the expense. Some were also concerned about the 90-day connection notice once the project is completed. Some felt it would have them trying to make sewer connections in the dead of winter.
Hinkson said commissioners might be able to extend that connection period.
He also noted that the city's Community Development Block Grant program will have grants available to help pay for the cost of running sewer lateral lines from the main line to individual homes of low- and moderate-income residents.
The project will cost $409,732, and about 40 property owners would be required to pick up about $245,000 of that cost.
Residents would be assessed $25 per front foot up to a maximum of 200 feet or $5,000 for the line.
They also have to pay a $1,000 tap-in fee and the cost of having lateral lines run into their homes.
The city will allow residents to pay their assessments over a five-year period at 4.2 percent interest.