Freeport and Upper Allegheny Joint Sanitary Authority representatives are scheduled to meet next week to discuss the possibility of linking the borough's sewage system with the authority's.
Freeport officials want to talk after receiving the authority's offer to bring the borough's 800 customers into the authority's system.
“We just want to sit down and talk things out,” Freeport Council President Rich Hastings said. “We're meeting informally to see what the details are.”
Upper Allegheny board members learned of Freeport's desire to meet at their board meeting Tuesday in Tarentum. The board in April approved sending the offer to Freeport.
The authority will answer “whatever questions they want to ask us,” Manager Tim Kuhns said.
Federal officials have given Freeport until Sept. 1, 2019, to upgrade the borough's system. The borough's options have come down to connecting with Upper Allegheny or building a new treatment plant to replace a 50-year-old facility, Hastings said.
Connecting to Upper Allegheny appears to be the most cost-effective solution, Hastings said. Still, Freeport residents could see their monthly sewage bills almost double, from about $35 to a little more than $60.
The $6.6 million project would involve running a 24-inch line nearly five miles from the junction of Buffalo Creek and the Allegheny River into Federal Street in the Natrona section of Harrison along the Norfolk Southern railroad right of way.
Under that proposal, Upper Allegheny would finance $3.8 million and Freeport would finance $2.8 million. The borough also would be responsible for a new storage tank and a pump station.
The cost for Freeport to build a new treatment plant has been estimated at $7 million to $11 million, and possibly would cost more, Hastings said. Residents would pay more if the borough built a new plant, but the exact costs are not known, he said.
From the meeting coming up on June 1, Hastings said, Freeport is looking to get more information about rates, what happens if they change and how much say Freeport would have in setting them.
“We want to know what our costs are going to be,” he said.
Freeport Council has not decided which option to take, Hastings said.
“We're keeping all of our options open,” he said.
Brian C. Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-226-4701 or brittmeyer@tribweb.com.
