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MAHONING TOWNSHIP New sewer fees to be subsidized, supervisors say
HILLSVILLE, Pa.
The monthly service fee for customers of the just completed $10 million sanitary sewer project will likely be $65 per month for residents and $85 for businesses, Mahoning Township Supervisor Vito Yeropoli said Tuesday.
The monthly fees will not be set until next month because, Yeropoli said, supervisors still have to determine rates for mobile home parks.
At their meeting Tuesday night, supervisors set the tap-in fee at $2,500 for those who connect to the line by Dec. 31. After that, it will go up to $3,000. The sewer inspection fee will be $75.
Community Development Block Grant money will likely be available to help low- to moderate-income residents pay the fee, Yeropoli said.
Those on the sewer line will receive postcards in the first two weeks of March notifying them they can start connecting.
Yeropoli said residents are getting a break because the monthly fee should be about $123 based on the payment schedule for the $9.9 million in loans used to pay for the DEP-mandated sewer. The monthly payment on the loan is $32,000. Cost per user required to meet this figure would be $81.43 per month. An additional estimated $42.30 monthly per user will also be needed to operate the sewage treatment plant.
However, he said the township is not charging customers this amount but instead will subsidize the payments with the anticipated tap-in fees, which will amount to $985,000. That will work for about four years, he said. After that, if the sewer gets no new funding or customers, the rates will have to be raised.
Yeropoli noted said that additional PennVest grant funding was again denied last month. He said, however, that if the long anticipated racetrack/casino is built off Pa. Route 551, that would bring in large tap-in and monthly fees, which would help all the sewer customers.
The new sewer line, which is Phase I of the project, will serve 394 customers in the Hillsville area. Plans call for Phase II to serve Edinburg if money is obtained.
Also Tuesday, supervisors accepted an agreement with DeLuca Consultants of Struthers, Ohio, to operate the sewer plant for $1,160 per month. DeLuca was the low bidder for the job.
Yeropoli said supervisors also will meet with the township fire department to discuss bills.
Supervisors previously agreed to pay the department’s electric, heating oil and truck fuel costs. However, Yeropoli said the fire department did not submit its budget figures until after the township budget was finished. The $6,000 that supervisors budgeted for the department for this year has already been spent by the department on the heat, electric and fuel bills. Supervisors agreed to pay $1,300 worth of bills for the department and will send a letter asking for a meeting.