The Saxonburg Area Authority has good cause for feeling upbeat about the $34.5 million loan that the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PennVEST) has approved for the $52.5 million sewer system expansion. The Saxonburg authority has the distinction of being awarded the largest loan in PennVEST's 18-year history.

The loan's interest rate — 1 percent — must not go unnoticed.

The loan will be paid back over the next 30 years.

But while the authority is the beneficiary of this stroke of luck, which Gov. Ed Rendell, during a local visit, said would save customers $270 a year in bills and fees and decrease customer hookup costs by $8,000, future customers of the expansion project aren't likely to be as elated as the governor and authority leadership. Those customers still are facing tap-in fees and line-extension costs amounting to $7,000 or more, which to some will mean significant hardship.

Those are costs that could have been much smaller if this project had been conceived and implemented years ago, when the early evidence of the population push northward into Butler County became clear. Like in some other parts of Butler County, the attitude in the area in question was — and among some people remains — that Butler County's rural character should be maintained, and it would be in the best interests of the area not to have sanitary sewer system expansion.

With the fast-paced growth, that is no longer an option.

And, the costs facing future customers confirm the shortsightedness of the past.

Nevertheless, the municipal cooperation that is at the foundation of the upcoming expansion is a lesson that should be heeded by others. The state and federal governments look more kindly at projects that exhibit such cooperation, meaning that higher levels of funding become available, as evident in this instance.

According to an article in the Feb. 10 edition of the Butler Eagle, the expansion in question will nearly triple the number of customers served by the authority. Residents in Penn and Middlesex townships in Butler County and a small portion of Richland Township in Allegheny County will be hooked up to the current system, which already serves the borough of Saxonburg and the townships of Clinton and Jefferson.

The expansion will involve constructing a new sewage treatment plant with the capacity to process more than 2 million gallons of waste a day, nearly 90 miles of sewer main lines, and five pump stations. When the expansion is completed, scheduled for April 2007, sewage-treatment service will be availabe to approximately 30 square miles throughout the six municipalities.

Actually, when engineering, design, land procurement and legal and financing fees are factored in, the overall cost of the project will be $68 million — a significant investment that will help the area's orderly growth in the years ahead. In addition to the money coming from PennVEST, bond issues and short-term loans are other aspects of the project's financial package.

State and local officials who helped make the big PennVEST loan possible are deserving of the municipalities' appreciation. The only sour note is the realization that the project should have come about long before 2006.

— J.R.K.