Bradford Sanitary Authority met last week with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation about the upcoming West Washington Street project to get an idea for the scope of work required.

Steve Disney, BSA executive director, said the authority and Bankson Engineers met with PennDOT about the corridor upgrade.

“PennDOT has received the results from additional core samples which indicate the major undercut in several areas is confirmed and needed to replace the road base,” he said. “PennDOT will be providing Bankson Engineers with design files and drawings, with cross sections so that Bankson can begin engineering the project to replace/relocate our buried  infrastructure in the affected areas. Cost sharing and reimbursement agreements will also need  to be drafted,” Disney said.

Back in May, he explained the project involves road base replacement as deep as 60 inches with the final roadway grade being an overall average of 4.5 inches lower than the current elevation with some areas seeing between a 6- to 9-inch drop in final roadway surface grade. This impacts the authority’s buried assets, like the sanitary sewer mains and manholes. Assets can be raised with little trouble, but lowering them is another story.

“Authority assets such as manholes can be adapted and adjusted to increases in roadway surfaces and are engineered and manufactured to add riser rings, at minimal cost. But lowering roadway elevation is very detrimental to buried utility infrastructure and extremely costly,” Disney said.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, Disney gave an update on sewer delinquency rates, which he said increased slightly during May while stormwater delinquencies were steady.

The property at 21 Bagley Ave. was sent to sheriff sale, but did not receive any bids. The lien will stay on the property until it is sold at judicial sale.

The authority placed a municipal lien against Ken Marsh’s property located at 11 Edwards St. and sent a demand letter to the owner’s attention. The authority is also currently working to place a municipal lien against the OYO Hotel located at 153 Main St. and is starting the process to place a lien against the property located at 23 Glenwood Ave. that is owned by Rasheed Deeb.

Updating the meter project, Disney explained that PENNVEST officials said their project management section has completed its review of the authority’s project documentation and “everything is in order with no concerns.” The settlement meeting was held Wednesday.

Disney gave an update on a bid for a property from the county repository. The authority is attempting to purchase 159 E. Main St. to use “to access the authorities’ sanitary main and several manholes running behind this row of houses. City council and the Bradford Area School District approved the sale. McKean County will also need to approve this. The County Assessment Office has indicated the decision could take up to one year.”

The authority has been in contact with Gannett Fleming about defective areas of roofing discovered on the main wastewater treatment plant. “This appears to be covered under warranty but the authority needs to confirm,” Disney said.

Field crews are currently operating in sanitary subsystem number 10 conducting full assessments of buried infrastructure assets. This subsystem encompasses a large area from Boylston and Forman street areas through South Avenue and West Corydon Street, he explained.

The authority has been made aware of a logging project within the city limits, above Petrolia Street. The logging company’s stormwater management plan has been given to Gannett Fleming for review.

“Topographic maps and soil maps have been received but are still awaiting a status update for site specific details and drawings which would protect stormwater runoff,” Disney said. “We are looking for a basic plan/drawing summarizing and showing the locations where the logging firm is proposing to place compost filter sock to keep the runoff from getting on to the local streets and into BSA’s catch basins.

“The plan should also include showing the BSA catch basins that they plan to protect with filter inlet bags, as well as locating a rock construction entrance where access to the private property ties in to Petrolia Street.”