Freeport Council will pursue construction of its own $11.5 million sewage treatment plant.

The decision came Monday night over a strong objection by Mayor James Swartz, who thinks the cost is too much for borough residents to bear.

He believes the better option is to tie into the Upper Allegheny Valley Joint Sanitary Authority system in neighboring Harrison.

Councilman Don Rehner initiated the move because of a June 1 deadline to submit a plan to the state Department of Environmental Resources on how it will handle sewage treatment in the coming years.

“We have until the end of May to make a decision, and I think it's time to make this motion,” Rehner said.

It was approved in a 5-0 vote, with councilmen Sean McCalmont and Matthew Crytzer absent.

The borough's 50-year-old sewage treatment plant needs upgrades to meet state and federal regulations.

But borough officials found it would be more financially feasible to build a new plant instead, according to Council President Rick Hastings. The only other viable option would be to tie into the Upper Allegheny system.

Rehner said residents have expressed concern to him about the borough losing control of the sewage system and the rate structure.

Cost study showed little difference

He cited the cost study done by the borough that shows residents would pay $116 per month in sewage fees if the borough builds its own plant.

At the same time, he said going with Upper Allegheny would cost residents $109 per month. Rehner said both rates are worst-case scenarios.

“For seven dollars, we're going to lose control of our sewage (treatment)?” he said.

The Upper Allegheny option has hit a snag as well.

That authority is still waiting for the federal Environmental Protection Agency to approve its long-term sewage control plan. That plan basically has to show that the authority can capture 85 percent of the sewage flow from its combined sewage/storm water system. Without EPA approval, Upper Allegheny would not be able to add Freeport to the system.

Upper Allegheny submitted that plan last May, a month before its deadline, and was supposed to hear back from the EPA by the end of January.

Instead, the authority received an EPA inquiry in December asking when the authority was going to submit the plan, which apparently has been languishing unnoticed in the federal pipeline.

Authority engineer Ed Schmitt of Gibson-Thomas Engineering said he contacted the agency last week about when it would finish its review and report to the authority but was told the EPA was not ready.

“The deadline is by June 1,” Rehner said. “The latest that our engineer told us is that Upper Allegheny wouldn't have approval to even accept us by then.”

Swartz, however, thinks council should at least wait to have another meeting with Upper Allegheny. He was particularly critical of council members, pointing out to them that none of them attended last week's meeting.

“I want to go on record as a citizen and the mayor that I'm opposed to spending $11 million when we haven't even had a follow-up meeting,” Swartz said.

Swartz said the cost is too high for a sewage system with only 750 households, particularly when many of those residents are elderly.

“I've attended meetings, I've read the reports from our engineers,” Rehner said. “I just think it's time we make a move.”

Both he and Hastings indicated that the Upper Allegheny option could still be in play if the authority's plan receives EPA approval.

“Anything is possible,” Hastings said.

Tom Yerace is a freelance writer.

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