Latest grant to fund rural sewer system
The owners of 96 homes and 15 businesses in the Boyers area of Marion Township should be elated today, as their longtime sewage problems soon will be a thing of the past — and without a tap-in fee.
Gov. Tom Wolf announced Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, that Marion Township will receive nearly $3.8 million of the $45 million released to municipalities in Community Development Block Grants.
That grant is the final piece in the puzzle to fund the construction of a public sewer system for 111 customers who are either on the failing lagoon sewer system or whose on-lot septic systems are failing and allowing standing sewage to collect on their properties.
The township inherited the aging lagoon sewer system more than 50 years ago after it was left for 24 Boyers residents when an industrial plant moved out.
The small, rural township did not have the funds to keep up with the maintenance of the tiny plant, and homeowners on the system are largely low-income families who could not afford the monthly increases that would have been necessary to maintain the plant.
Enter Mark Gordon, the county chief of economic development and planning, and Wendy Leslie, the county’s Community Development Block Grant director, who have been collaborating with township officials since 2014 to find a solution to the municipality’s sewer problems.
Gordon explained Tuesday that the cost to build a new plant is estimated at almost $5 million.
With other grants, plus the $3.7 million grant announced in Harrisburg on Tuesday, the project funds are up to $5.1 million.
In addition, Gordon said Leslie devised a way to roll tap fees into the construction funds, so those residents who will need to be connected to the new system will not be required to pay a tap fee.
Also, because no loans are included in the $5.1 million collected to build the plant, the monthly bill for property owners on the system will decrease from an estimated $95 per month to $55 per month.
“We’ve been working on this for years, and we are finally going to be able to make it happen without these people having to pay outrageous sewer bills every month that they just cannot afford,” Leslie said.
A large percent of Boyers households earn $17,000 per year, which is $10,000 under the federal poverty level for a family of four.
Leslie praised township secretary Michelle Burd for her diligent work over several years to provide the data needed to apply for various grants.
“We are just elated,” Burd said of the project being funded. “It’s been a long time coming.”
She said the two ponds and tiny pump house comprising the current sewer plant will be removed and the new plant built on the current location of the ponds.
The old sewer system is in such bad shape that the state Department of Environmental Protection issued a consent order in 2014 mandating that the township rectify the situation.
“For the residents who have struggled with their septic systems to know this project will come to fruition is just amazing,” Burd said. “I can’t even express how excited I am about it.”
She said the project has the necessary permits and is ready to go.
“We were just waiting for this last puzzle piece of funding to come in,” Burd said.
Leslie said she is waiting for documentation from the state; then the bid process can begin. She hopes to see construction start next spring.
“We are so relieved that we are finally able to help these people,” Leslie said.
