Delmont runs into unexpected costs in sewage consent order

Unanticipated costs are cropping up as Delmont officials take steps to comply with a consent order from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to address sewage overflows.

The order addresses overflows that occur during heavy rain, discharging a mix of raw sewage and storm water onto property in neighboring Salem owned by the Rock Springs Trust.

Part of the project includes the replacement and relocation of a sewer line running across the Salem property, and council members rejected a proposed change order at their meeting Tuesday night for a 100-foot section of pipe that crosses an existing gas line.

While the original plan was for the sewage pipe to run beneath the gas line, borough engineer Dalton Mack said talks with the gas company have led to a requirement that it run over-top.

Mack recommended that the planned 15-inch pipe be downsized to 12 inches for the roughly 100-foot section in the area of the gas line. In addition, Mack said, a casing pipe is also required to house the line, and a 12-inch line would help the borough save money on the cost of the casing.

That spurred plenty of debate among council over whether downsizing the pipe could create a choke point that would lead to potential problems in the future. Mack said he did not think it would create a capacity issue.

“The DEP is okay with (downsizing that section of pipe) because the slope of the land is steeper in that section,” Mack said.

Using a cased 12-inch pipe through the section — the subject of the change order — would cost a little more than $24,000. Mack said going with 15-inch pipe, which would then require a larger casing pipe, could add another $10,000 to the change order.

Councilman Stan Cheyne said his preference was to stay with 15-inch pipe.

“We’re making a decision that could be in place for the next 50 years,” Cheyne said. “I think we need to get a price for staying with the 15-inch pipe and then decide what the best course of action is.”

Cheyne was joined by councilmen Jeff Cunningham and Chris Bigley in rejecting the change order. Councilwomen Krista Krautbauer and Pam Simpson were absent.

Road restoration

Council also ran into an unexpected cost for the restoration of a section of a Salem road that will be affected by the consent order projects.

Mack said restoration plans already approved by Salem officials turned out to not meet the borough’s ordinance for road specifications. They estimated it would require roughly an additional two inches’ worth of paving, which would add about $25,000 to the restoration’s $40,000 cost.

Cheyne asked why Mack did not know the correct specifications.

“Their own engineer didn’t even know this,” Mack said. “It was in a 1994 ordinance which was not posted along with the other ordinances on their website. I’d say, given that we had Salem’s approval on this already, and they didn’t even notify until our recent PA One Call meeting, Delmont would be within its rights to ask Salem to make up that difference in cost.”

Cheyne said council would reach out to their Salem counterparts to discuss the restoration’s cost.

Storm water work

Council also approved an $83,729 payment for grant-funded storm water improvements along Lindsay Lane.

The state grant is through the Department of Community and Economic Development’s watershed restoration and protection program. The project, with a cost of $162,000, was awarded to Ohio contractor J.S. Paris Excavating in June.