Delmont weighs options for $1.3M sewage project

Delmont officials will wait until July to award a bid for more than $1 million in sewer work.

As part of a consent order finalized with the state Department of Environmental Protection in April 2020, borough officials proposed relocating and replacing a gravity line and a force main that run through Salem despite being part of Delmont’s system.

The lines in question run through the property of the Rock Springs Trust, where, during significant wet weather, manholes have consistently discharged a mix of stormwater and untreated sewage onto the property and into a tributary of Beaver Run. The lines have required multiple repairs over the years, and stormwater runoff has eroded portions of the stream, exposing several sections of line.

Borough engineers said the project will reduce the load on its Cramer pump station and will reduce the sewage overflows. In addition to the force main project, council advertised for bids to place a sewage interceptor along Christy Road.

A recent court ruling also granted the borough’s request to take a 40-foot-wide easement through a section of the Rock Springs Trust property via eminent domain.

Council members, however, want more time to go over their options for the work after bids came in.

Dalton Mack, with borough engineers Lennon Smith & Souleret, said the borough had a few options as part of the bid package. Mack suggested alternates that would include a trash basket — a screen that catches solid materials and must be emptied regularly by public works staff — as well as a lateral grinder pump.

Another more costly option would be to install a dual hopper, Mack said, which would cost an additional $186,000, but would require far less maintenance on the part of public works employees.

The borough has $311,000 on hand in state grant money to use for the project, as well as $900,000 from an earlier loan in anticipation of the upcoming work.

Councilman Stan Cheyne said he wanted additional time to discuss alternatives with fellow council and sewage committee member Dave Weber, who was not present at council’s June 11 meeting.

“For $1.3 million, I’d like to talk with the other half of the sewage committee first,” Cheyne said. “If we were talking about $20,000 between the trash basket versus the dual hopper, that would be one thing, but we’re talking about a $186,000 difference.”

Mack said council could table the contract award for now but would need to make a decision at its July meeting.