CLEARFIELD – Clearfield County will use its 2017 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to assist the Curwensville Municipal Authority with sewer line rehabilitation and manhole replacement along State Street.
At Tuesday’s regular commissioners’ meeting, Lisa Kovalick, community development specialist, presented the county’s CDBG application and related paperwork. The application was unanimously approved for submission to the state.
According to Kovalick, the county’s total allocation was $238,499. She said that $195,599 would be allocated to assist with the project while the remainder – $42,900 – would be for administrative purposes.
She said the goal of the sewer rehabilitation project is to reduce inflow and infiltration into the sewer collection system. She said municipal officials ultimately want to reduce and eliminate sanitary sewer overflows that have occurred due to the antiquity of the collection system.
Prior to that, Kovalick said the Curwensville Municipal Authority must rehabilitate sewer lines to help eliminate inflow and infiltration. The main sewer lines are clay and the manholes are made of bricks.
Municipal officials have been conducting a phase rehabilitation of their sewer system, including its lines. The State Street phase will be carried out with CDBG funding and matched with the authority’s funding.
Kovalick said municipal officials have been in the process of implementing the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Act 537 Plan, which includes two main goals. These goals are:
- upgrading its wastewater treatment facility to achieve compliance with nutrient discharge requirements of the Pennsylvania Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy and replacing the aging and failing treatment equipment.
- rehabilitating the remaining portions of the sanitary sewer collection system that’s made up of brick manholes and clay piping. Through past assessments, inflow and infiltration has been documented in these areas. The sewer rehabilitation project is intended to eliminate the periodic sanitary sewer overflows that have occurred in the collection system.
Kovalick said the Curwensville Municipal Authority has completed its wastewater treatment facility upgrade. However, the sanitary sewer rehabilitation project was divided into three phases for implementation.
According to her, the first phase has PENNVEST funding, and the construction will be completed in fall of 2017. The State Street project area is included in the third phase.
She noted that Curwensville Borough is undertaking a streetscape project along State Street (state Route 879). It’s a major throughfare in the borough’s downtown business district and an important revitalization project.
Kovalick said the total estimated cost for the Curwensville Municipal Authority sewer project is $418,618.
The commissioners also unanimously approved submitting CDBG applications on behalf of Clearfield Borough and Lawrence Township in the amount of $99,888 and $111,655, respectively.
Kovalick said the borough plans to use its funding toward the Stinky Run flood control project in East End. The township plans to use its funding for storm sewer and street improvements in the Kerr Area.