Digging begins for Swan plan sewers
?Construction is beginning on the new sewer lines for the Swan plan in Luzerne Township.
Bill Johnson of Fayette Engineering told the Brownsville Municipal Authority, which is undertaking the project, that the contractor was given the notice to proceed on Aug. 8 and has 180 days to complete the project. Johnson said the project involves installing 11,000 linear feet of new sewer lines, with work starting at a pump station near Bull Run that involves excavating through rock.
“Once they get up out of the rock, they should be able to dig 300 to 400 feet a day,” Johnson said.
Johnson said that while the contract allows up to six months for completion, he doesn’t expect the work to take that long.
Once the new lines are installed and tested, the 69 residents and Patsy Hillman Park that will be served by the new lines will have 90 days to tap into the system, Johnson said.
The start of the project was delayed several months by paperwork. Solicitor Ernest DeHaas said he finally obtained all the proper signatures and dated paperwork about a week after the July municipal authority meeting, even though the contract was awarded in April.
The low bidder was Fleming-Walker Inc. of Portersville, with a bid of $791,810, well under the $1.4 million anticipated for the project. The formal groundbreaking ceremony for the project is scheduled for August 29, even though the contractor has already begun construction.
Joe Terravecchia, who lives in the Swan plan and is a member of the Luzerne Township Sewer Authority, attended Tuesday’s Brownsville Municipal Authority meeting and thanked the authority members for their work to bring the project to fruition.
“This started in 1874 as a $68,000 project,” Terravecchia said.
The project ran into numerous roadblocks and in 2007 Terravechia said he contacted the USDA about funding and also began petitioning then-Congressman John P. Murtha, D-Johnstown, who was replaced by his aide, Mark Critz, upon his death.
“The majority of the people are welcoming this project with open arms,” Terravecchia said.
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