Sewer project to finish mid-2011

Westmoreland moving ahead with sewer system for Placid Bay subdivision

Date published: 11/8/2009

BY FRANK DELANO

Washing clothes and flushing toilets should become less problematic in the Westmoreland County subdivision of Placid Bay by the middle of 2011.

That is the approximate completion date of a new sewer system that will connect 700 users in Placid Bay and other communities south of Mattox Creek with the Colonial Beach wastewater treatment plant six miles away.

Connecting to the new system cannot come too soon for Chuck Hayden of Placid Bay. He will be glad to see his old septic tank demolished in the process.

"Now when it rains and the water table rises, we can't wash clothes or use the commodes and dishwasher," he said of his septic system. "It backs up from the drain field to the septic tank to the house."

"The people who live here have had to go through the same thing year after year because houses shouldn't have been built here in the first place," said Hayden's neighbor, Thomas Buscher.

Like many residents of the area, Hayden paid his $3,000 connection fee in 2007. He got a deal. Connections to the system now cost $6,800.

Approval of the project by state and federal agencies took years. Last week, Westmoreland supervisors jumped through one of the last remaining hoops when they approved issuing $4.5 million in low-interest bonds that will be bought by a federal agency.

Federal grants of $2.5 million, connection fees like Hayden's totaling $2.4 million and a county contribution of $562,000 will complete funding of the $10 million project.

Monthly fees of $40 for most residential users will start as the sewer lines are installed. The revenue will pay for the system's debt service and operation, said County Administrator Norm Risavi.

Last month, the supervisors awarded $7.3 million in construction contracts. Work should begin in December, said Charles D. Riedlinger, the county's engineer.

"It's been frustrating for it to take so long, but we're excited. We're just waiting to see that first bucketful of dirt come out of the ground," said Hayden.

"The economic impact will be quite positive," predicted Buscher.

The new system "will open up lots to building if the economy improves and make existing homes more salable and livable," he said.

Frank Delano: 804/761-4300
Email: fpdelano@gmail.com

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Date published: 11/8/2009