The Union Township Board of Supervisors said Aug. 17 that connecting 115 properties to the proposed Geigertown sewer line will be a financial burden of $110 to $125 per month, an expense that will be borne by all residents.
Board Chairman Donald E. Basile said the board never expected the monthly fee to exceed $75 per month.
He said residential sewer hook-ups will be $4,000 to $6,000, with the township possibly implementing a loan repayment plan.
“No matter what the Geigertown Area Joint Authority does to reduce costs, PennVest has already determined that the loan amount is based upon an average income of residents, and that they can afford $1,500 a year,” said board President Donald E. Basile.
The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) began requiring construction of a Geigertown sewer system in 1996 to resolve all known failing septic systems and suspected failing systems.
Basile said there are currently 115 failed septic systems — half in Union Township and half in Robeson Township.
A joint meeting of both townships is scheduled for Aug. 26 at the Robeson Township Municipal Building, 8 Boonetown Road, Birdsboro, to discuss moving forward with the $5.3 million project.
The project will be a collection system beginning in Geigertown — at the Route 82 intersection — and pumped up Geigertown Road to Route 345 and then to the sanitary sewer system in Birdsboro.
Basile said the new connections will use Birdsboro sewer plant capacity that the township purchased 30 years ago for this purpose.
The project will be funded by $3.2 million in grants as well as a $2 million, 20-year, PennVest one-percent loan.
Board members authorized township engineer Thomas Unger to proceed with the drawings for the Geigertown pump station system.
The bid process would begin in November or December.
Construction should be completed in two years.
“There was going to be a cheaper solution,” said Basile, adding, “The target range was $50 to $75 a month, and now it is $125 a month.”
“Everyone was okay with $50 to $75 a month. The Act 537 Plan (the township’s sewage disposal plan that includes resolutions for failing systems) was submitted to DEP with that language, but DEP would not approve it with that language.”
“A lot of Union Township residents won’t be happy with this. A lot of them don’t have failed systems. The only major user is the private school in Robeson Township. But, DEP said it is a shared issue — people without failed systems will share in the system to provide sewer for people with failed systems.”
In an effort to help the non-profit organizations located in Union Township, the board approved that each may advertise a fundraising letter once a year in the township newsletter.
Basile and Supervisor Terry Kennedy voted that no fee would be charged for including fundraising letters in the quarterly newsletter.
“I have no problem with it,” said Basile, adding, “they serve our constituents.”