Apr 17, 2008 By Christine Haines 2 min read

BROWNSVILLE – Either the Brownsville Municipal Authority or Luzerne Township will need to land grants of $750,000 to $1 million if sewerage can be brought to the Swan Plan at a monthly rate under $45. The Luzerne Township neighborhood, which includes the area of Patsy Hillman Park, is part of the Brownsville Municipal Authority’s service area under a state Department of Environmental Protection consent order. Sewerage has been considered for the area for years but was never affordable.

The Luzerne Township Sewer Authority is now working with the borough’s authority, trying to get the plan implemented. Bill Johnson of Fayette Engineering reported Tuesday that the project would cost an estimated $1.3 million to $1.6 million. Johnson said the base rate for residential customers can be kept at $43.61 a month, the same as other Luzerne customers, if grants of at least $750,000 are obtained. Depending on whether the Brownsville authority assumes ownership and maintenance of the forced mains and pump stations needed for the Swan Plan, the tap-in fee will be either $1,500 or $2,500, Johnson estimated.

“I came up with $1.6 million for the project, so our numbers are pretty close. With my numbers, we would need $900,000 in grants,” said Joe Terravecchia of the Luzerne Township Sewer Authority.

Terravecchia said the sewerage could be essential to future development in the area, including the expansion of recreational and outdoor educational programs at the park.

“Public sewerage in the park could bring a lot of things to us,” Terravecchia said.

In other matters, the authority is sending out a second letter to customers who still have their downspouts in the sanitary sewer system, warning that the next notice they will receive will be a citation from the magisterial district judge’s office. It was noted that the response to letters sent by the authority’s solicitor have been effective, taking the number of customers with illegal downspouts from more than 200 to about 45.

The authority members also approved a 50-cent-an-hour pay raise for the non-union employees. A new three-year contract with the union workers calls for increases of 35 cents a year in salary, plus increases in the pension and health benefits.

The accounting firm of McClure and Wolf presented its audit for 2007, with no problems found.