The Borough of Galeton will receive a $500,000 state grant for
its ongoing sanitary sewer project.

The announcement was made Tuesday by state Rep. Martin Causer,
R-Turtlepoint.

Causer said the authority is working to upgrade its system to
meet state Department of Environmental Protection standards.
Specifically, the authority’s combined sewer system, which collects
both sanitary wastewater and stormwater runoff, was not able to
handle the volume of water produced during wet water periods.

“In order to protect public health and meet regulatory
requirements, the people of Galeton need significant improvements
to their sanitary sewer system,” Causer said, adding he has
traveled to the borough on several occasions to talk to municipal
officials about the project. “I applaud the members of the Galeton
Borough Authority for their hard work toward this goal.”

Officials said the funding is derived through a Safe Water
Grant. The Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority
(PENNVEST) previously approved a $771,143 grant to the Galeton
Borough Authority and a nearly $5 million low-interest loan.
According to the PENNVEST Web site, the $771,143 loan was approved
in July.

The lawmaker said the funding will help make the project more
affordable to the community.

“This should help a great deal to pay for the project,” Causer
said. “It’s a situation where they have a very aging system and
they are up against some real environmental regulatory
mandates.

“This is a community that is struggling to pay for this and they
have to have that sewer project completed. You can certainly only
raise sewer rates so big.”

According to Alan Zeigler, the project manager for Larson Design
Group in Williamsport, who is working with the authority, the
entire project budget is estimated at $5.7 million and entails
replacing a significant portion of the authority’s combined sewers
with separate sanitary and storm sewers.

The project also involves the reconstruction of existing
separate sanitary sewers that are no longer structurally sound.
Zeigler said two small pump stations are also involved in the
project.

“The combined sewers will be totally replaced with separate
sanitary and storm sewers,” Zeigler said. “There will be some dig
and replace involved and some sections will need to be lined,
including those sewers that are structurally sound and have bad
joints.”

According to the PENNVEST Web site, the project involves the
construction of 19,160 linear feet of sanitary sewer, 7,200 linear
feet of storm sewer, 83 manholes, 59 storm inlets and the pump
station.

The borough serves 571 residential households with a median
income below the state’s.

Jan Tara Bori, the chairman of the board of the water and sewer
authority, said the borough’s system “is very, very old.”

Tara Bori said the grant will help cover the replacement of some
main water lines. “There are a lot of leaks in the pipes and we
lose a lot of water. We are mandated by DEP to eliminate the
unaccounted for water.”

According to Tara Bori, the original system had wood pipe in
it.

“We were surprised we got as much as we did,” Tara Bori said,
speaking of the amount of funding the borough received.

Zeigler said the construction is slated to begin by February or
March; crews would attempt to complete the project within a year
after that.

“The hope is to reduce any further user fee increases,” Zeigler
said.

Dan Spadoni of the DEP’s Northcentral Regional Office in
Williamsport was out of the office Tuesday. A message seeking
further information was not immediately returned.