ORWIGSBURG - The borough council recently took steps to start a $1 million sewer pipe replacement project.
At a July 9 meeting, the council accepted a work order from Entech Engineering Inc. and Alfred Benesch & Co., both of Pottsville, for review of the project.
The council also authorized borough Manager Mike Lonergan and solicitor Frank Tamulonis with the solicitor of the Orwigsburg Municipal Authority to secure funding for the project and update a lease with the authority. They also gave approval for Tamulonis to seek approval for the financing for the project from the state Department of Community and Economic Development.
The borough agreed to match up to $200,000 for the project. The municipal authority also is contributing funds. The borough is ultimately responsible for repaying the loan.
Lonergan said previously there was an 18-inch sewer pipe installed in the 1990s from Market Street to Ridge Road. From Ridge Road is a 12-inch sewer pipe that goes to the sewer plant, which sometimes gets backed up.
Buddy Touchinsky, borough council president, said the plan is to abandon the 12-inch line and install an 18-inch line to the sewer plant from Ridge Road.
About 3,000 feet of pipe would need to be replaced.
Touchinsky said the authority would be the one to apply for any loan from a bank. It could be months and possibly next year until bids go out for the project, he said Thursday.
Depending on when the design work and bids go out and if they are awarded, construction might not start until next spring or summer, Touchinsky said.
"The rates will not go up," because of the project, he said.
Borough resident Rick Bubeck, who lives on Marshall Drive, told the council last month that he can not flush his toilet or take a shower during heavy rains. Lonergan said the borough knows about the problem and has made attempts over the years to try to alleviate the issue, which is believed to be caused by an infiltration and in-flow problem in the borough.
In other news, bids were awarded for the repair work at Community Memorial Hall.
The 8,100-square-foot building at 300 Grove St. was dedicated July 16, 1950, in honor of all veterans. It closed in 2010 due to safety issues and reopened last year.
There were seven bids for the repair contracts previously. The first contract included work to repair the new entrance/display, exterior doors and windows. There were alternates that included exterior insulation and an exterior finish to the building.
L & K Construction, Pottsville, was awarded the bid for $238,573 for the first contract and several alternates. The second contract was for the roof. An alternate for diseased wood that might be present was separate.
Spotts Brothers Inc., Schuylkill Haven, was awarded the contract for $211,600 for the second contract and an alternate.
Those funds will be paid back by the committee to the borough.
"The 50-60K of additional funds is for the Memorial project so that all of the work bid out recently can be completed during this phase. It is the intention of the committee to pay back the borough using money from their upcoming fundraisers," Touchinsky said in an email.
Greg Stewart, president of the Orwigsburg Veterans Memorial Development Task Force, a group of individuals interested in the preservation of the structure, said the money from the borough "will be used to complete the alternate bid items of contract 1," which is exterior insulation and exterior finish to the building.
"Construction will start in August and will be mostly finished by the end of October," Stewart said Thursday.