Construction to begin on Southwestern’s water extension to Dunkard Valley
GREENSBORO – Construction is expected to begin later this month on the Dunkard Valley Water System Extension Project that will connect Greensboro area customers into Southwestern Pennsylvania Water Authority’s modernized system.
The $12.849 million project that has been discussed for nearly four years will connect more than 500 customers in the outdated Dunkard Valley Joint Municipal Authority into the newer system.
“It was a long, drawn out process,” said Charles Mallory, president of the Dunkard Valley board that will be dissolved after the project is completed in late fall. “It’s going to work out well. That whole area that Dunkard Valley serves, all of this will be new equipment. All of these old lines and the waterline breaks and the issues, those are going to be behind us.”
The project appeared to be in jeopardy nearly a year ago when a grant and low-interest loan from the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority, also known as PENNVEST, came in less than anticipated in April. The majority of the financial commitment came in the form of a $10.6 million loan, with the remaining $5.1 million being paid through a grant, meaning new customers would be paying a higher monthly surcharge fee to repay the loan.
But Southwestern officials changed portions of the project to lower costs and were pleased in September when bids for construction came in significantly lower than expected. The water authority finalized the project with PENNVEST last month, and officials said Monday they expect to break ground within the next few weeks.
“I think it’s a good project,” Southwestern manager Tim Faddis said. “It’ll open that area up for (economic) growth.”
The Dunkard Valley Water System Extension Project will extend the waterline from Southwestern Pennsylvania American Water’s current infrastructure near Crucible south toward Greensboro.
Faddis said some of the savings include Southwestern workers inspecting the lines rather than a contractor. But the biggest financial savings will come from building a 1-million-gallon water storage tank in Monongahela Township that will service the Greensboro area and areas north of Carmichaels, rather than replacing an existing one near Jefferson. The water tank will cost about $1.443 million.
“We’ll be able to back feed that tank,” Faddis said of the Jefferson location.
The waterline construction, which will run a pipeline extension from Southwestern’s current infrastructure near Crucible south toward Greensboro, accounts for about $11.406 million of the project. All pipelines in the Dunkard Valley system will be replaced.
Mallory said they’re hopeful that the monthly surcharge for customers will be about $20, with the average water bill expected to be $58. That’s close to initial estimates that the authorities discussed several years ago, Mallory said, which will be worth the upgrades.
“You’re going to take this old, antiquated system – it’s like a clunker car and you’re buying a Mercedes – and you’re going to get a brand new system,” Mallory said of Dunkard Valley’s mid-20th century infrastructure.
The final surcharge is still in flux, Faddis said, because it will likely be tied to the amount APV Renaissance Opco LLC pays to connect into the system to bring water to a natural gas-fired power plant it is proposing to build at the shuttered Hatfield’s Ferry power plant property. Faddis said other potential commercial development in that area could also drive down costs.
Dunkard Valley currently serves 512 customers in Greensboro and the Glassworks, Penn Pitt, Cabbage Flats and Mapletown neighborhoods in Monongahela Township. All of them will be moved over to Southwestern when the acquisition takes place. Southwestern serves about 14,000 customers in Greene, Washington and Fayette counties.
There will be a town hall meeting at 5 p.m. Feb. 25 at the Greensboro Fire Department to discuss the project and to answer questions from customers.