Jun 10, 2014 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – Waynesburg Borough Council voted Monday to notify Fayette Engineering Co. that work to develop plans for improvements to the borough sewage system is officially on hold.

Council took the action on the advice of its solicitor and will suspend the project until additional information is provided by a second engineering firm hired to review plans for the system.

The borough is required by the state to develop a plan to eliminate surface water infiltration into the sewage system to prevent overflows at its treatment plant by December 2015.

Fayette Engineering was working to address the system’s problems for a number of years but was told by council several months ago to halt work.

The company presented council with a preliminary design in December estimating the costs for work to the collection system at $3.6 million, but did not include an estimate for costs for improvements needed at the treatment plant.

Council also was told additional flow meter tests had to be conducted on borough sewage lines to determine more accurately where surface water is infiltrating the system and the borough may have to talk to the state about possible delays in the project schedule.

Council initiated discussion with the Franklin Township Sewer Authority to consider if the two could work together to share services and possibly save money.

In April, it hired the authority’s engineer, Gannett Fleming, at a cost of $20,000 to assess the borough’s treatment plant and to see if there is any way the borough’s and authority’s plants could work in conjunction with each other.

Borough manager Mike Simms reported Monday Gannett Fleming continues to work on the report and offered to complete other work for the borough for an additional $10,000, including analyzing results of the flow meter tests, reviewing plans for treatment systems and accompanying borough officials to meetings with the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Council agreed to accept the additional agreement.

In other business, Simms reported the borough obtained all easements for the Jackson Run project except the easement from Steve Stuck for property on the northern side of High Street.

The project will involve replacing the bridge on High Street over Jackson Run and the culverts on both sides of the bridge. The state Department of Transportation will replace the bridge, while the borough, with grants it received several years ago, will install the new culverts. The project is aimed at reducing flooding on High Street during heavy rains.

Simms said he was waiting to hear from Stuck but if Stuck did not approve the easement the plan is to install the culvert only on the south side of the street.

Simms also reported an inmate work crew from Greene County jail will replace the roof on the building at the Midtown lot on Greene Street in August. Council also discussed possibly remodeling the Midtown building for borough offices but took no action on the matter.

Council agreed it did not want to purchase the old borough building behind the existing borough building that it learned last month was for sale. Simms reported K-2 Engineers inspected the building and found it to be unsafe in its present condition.

Council took no action on a motion to allow Geokinetic to place cable and sensors on borough property when it conducts seismic testing near the borough this summer.

The company earlier asked council to conduct the testing in the borough using a special truck that creates vibrations on the ground surface to map geologic strata for natural gas producers.

Simms said the company determined it could not use the truck in the borough but still wanted to place the sensors on borough property. Council members said they didn’t want the sensors placed on borough properties, primarily in borough parks where they could disrupt park activities.

Council agreed to make the borough’s annual $5,000 donation to Greene County Humane Society.