Oct 2, 2003 By Jackie Beranek 3 min read

BULLSKIN TWP. – Construction on the $5.52 million Bullskin Township/Connellsville Township joint sewerage project is nearly completed, according to Richard Widmer, vice president of Widmer Engineering Inc. of Connellsville. According to Widmer some minor restoration work needs to be completed on the Connellsville Township sewers before the project can be classified as completed.

“All of the work is now completed on the Bullskin Township sewers and at the pump stations with the exception of a few punch list items,” Widmer told the Bullskin Township/Connellsville Township Joint Sewerage Authority Wednesday.

“In fact, this is probably the next to last report we will be submitting,” Widmer said. “We are essentially in the final stages of the project.”

The authority broke ground on the project last March after hiring contractors D&M Contracting of New Alexandria and Shallenberger Construction Inc. of Connellsville to install sewerage collection systems in Bullskin and Connellsville townships along with D.T. Construction Inc. of Dunbar to install three pump stations, two in Connellsville Township.

All three contractors have since completed the project, with Shallenberger wrapping up the remaining restoration work to the Connellsville Township extension, located east of Miedel’s Restaurant on Buttermore Boulevard.

Widmer said the extension picked up an additional 50 customers.

Carl Lewis, authority executive director, said the authority has 566 customers. He also said that the authority had a delinquency rate of about 14 percent last month.

“That number has come down to 6 percent,” said Lewis. “However, I’m getting ready to send out the first round of delinquent notices to people who are three months overdue on their $36.25 a month bill.”

Lewis said to date the authority has collected $508,240 in tap-in fees.

“We only have 42 people who haven’t paid their tap-in fees yet,” said Lewis. “About 100 people haven’t paid or tapped-in and only seven people in the extension area haven’t paid their fees.

Widmer said all in the entire project was very successful.

“I can honestly say that this project has been a dream project,” said Widmer. “These people in these areas really wanted sewage.”

Customers in Poplar Grove in Connellsville Township and the Merit Manor area, the Route 119 corridor and in Pennsville in Bullskin Township are on the system.

The project was made possible with a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1999 and a $350,000 loan from the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) coupled with local money.

The authority received further funding last year when PENNVEST awarded it a $1 million grant to offset construction costs and a second loan for $1.5 million.

In other matters, the board agreed to have Lewis place a lock box for customers to pay their bills at Dilworth Place on Memorial Boulevard. The lock box will be reinforced with concrete so that it cannot be taken off the property, according to board members.