SAINT CLAIR - Sewer authority customers may be surprised that their sewage rates have increased with the most recent bill at the end of February, but the authority said Monday it's part of a plan announced last year.
According to the sewer authority office, customers, both residents and businesses, received a letter with their first bill in 2013 stating the rates would increase for the next two years to help pay for renovations to the sewer plant.
Rate increases were said to be spread over a two-year period to make it easier for customers.
The sewer plant manager was not available Monday for comment about the upgrades.
These major renovations, costing about $3.5 million, are the first to be completed since 1976.
According to the letter, the 2013 rate increased by $5 per month, making it $85 per quarter, and is increasing another $5 per month in 2014, bringing the sewer rate up to $100 per quarter or $400 per year.
The office stated Monday that if any customers pay for the entire year before March 31, they would receive a discount and only pay $310.
The Saint Clair Sewer Authority was incorporated in 1964 under the provisions of the PA Municipal Authorities Act. Before that, sewage was collected and discharged into Mill Creek and its tributaries at numerous points through a system owned by the borough, with no sewage treatment at that time.
In 1966, SCSA accepted dedication of the borough's main sewer lines to construct a new main interceptor to collect the numerous discharge points of the collection system and to construct a sewage treatment plant.
Plant construction began in 1967 and finished in 1968, the letter said.
Due to the federal Clean Water Act in 1972, a department now known as the Department of Environmental Protection ordered SCSA to construct necessary plant upgrades, providing secondary biological and chemical treatment of sewage.
These upgrades began in 1975 and were completed in 1976.
Since 1976, only "typical maintenance" or work was completed where the authority was able to obtain grant funds.
In recent years, although no timeline was given, SCSA was able to obtain more than $1.7 million in grants through various programs and agencies, many of which have been discontinued.
While sewage treatment plants are typically designed for a 20-year life span, it had been more than 37 years since the last major work, the authority said.
Major work currently taking place on the plant is needed to keep it in compliance with DEP.
SCSA also noted that its rates are one of the lowest in the county and in 2012, the average rate was $42.61 per month. Its rates were $23.33 per month in 2012, $28.33 in 2013 and will be $33.33 in 2014, which is still lower than the 2012 average.