Jun 5, 2002 By Steve Ferris 2 min read

Uniontown City Council awarded a $674,476 contract to install a 4,200-foot relief interceptor sewer line, which marks the start of the first phase of the yearlong $4 million storm/sanitary sewer separation project. Council unanimously voted Tuesday to award the contract to Kukurin Contracting Inc. of Export, which submitted the lowest of eight bids that were opened during the council meeting.

The high bid was $1.34 million or almost double Kukurin’s bid.

Awarding of the contract was made contingent upon the city obtaining interim financing from a local bank, securing the needed easements from property owners and approval from the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST), which is providing two low-interest loans for the project.

Interim financing is needed so work can start in July before the city closes on the loan in September.

By then a lot of work will be under way for the separation project, which is expected to be finished next summer, said David M. Meredith of Chester Engineers.

“By this fall, there going be a lot of torn up streets in Uniontown,” Meredith said.

He said the project will impact at least 10 major streets in the city.

Maple Street will be only roadway disturbed during the Redstone Creek relief interceptor project, which was the main subject of Tuesday’s council meeting, according to Phil Mahoney, head of the city’s sewage department.

The new pipe, which will be 30-inches in diameter at the plant and narrow to 27 inches at Maple Street, will be installed parallel to an existing sanitary line, which narrows from 30 to 24 inches between the plant and Maple Street, he said.

Except for Maple Street, the installation work will take place along the creek and a railroad right-of-way.

Mahoney said the new line will allow the treatment plant to accept approximately 21 million gallons of rains or melted snow.

Currently, that runoff is diverted into the creek.

Under terms of a consent order, which was agreed to last fall, with the State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the city has 10 years to separate its combined storm and sanitary sewer system.

PENNVEST agreed in March to provide two low-interest loans totaling $5.77 million for the separation project.

North Union and South Union townships will pay for a share of the project based on the number of customers in those communities that are connected to the city’s sewage system, Meredith said.