No rate increase has been proposed for the Bradford Sanitary Authority in the coming year.
That welcome announcement came after Tuesday’s board meeting. The revenue projection is $4,516,902, with capital outlay of $599,251, and debt service loan payments of $1,289,889.
For 2023, capital outlay includes an upgrade to the JMS Sludge system, IT server upgrade, Mark3 camera recording equipment upgrade and a new trailer for the CCTV system.
Wages for the coming year include $86,916.89 for the executive director, $92,794 for the operations manager; $80,109.02 for the office manager; $75,250 for the business manager, and hourly wage classifications ranging from $28.20 an hour to $33 an hour.
The Sanitary Authority adopted the budget.
In his report, Executive Director Steve Disney explained the term of Board Member Norm Strotman expires the first Monday of 2023, and a request has been sent to council to nominate him for another five-year term.
The Authority is working with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and RCAP Solutions of PA for a two-day activated sludge workshop to be held at the authority’s treatment plant. The course is a preparatory course for the activated sludge certification exam and a refresher for certified waste operators. Dates are being finalized, but the course will be at the end of February or in early March. The classes will be from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. each day.
As for field operations, a total of 25,676 lineal feet of sanitary sewer have been assessed to date in 2022. A year-to-date total for stormwater assessment is 22,459 lineal feet. Both crews have joined forces and are working in the Congress Street area.
Disney gave an update on the cured-in-place pipe lining project. Insight Pipe Contracting from Harmony was hired and completed the initial rehabilitation project. Work included lining 80 lineal feet of 15” storm main, and 1,092 lineal feet of 8” sanitary main, plus heavy flushing and cleaning and reinstatement of service laterals. Additional work will be performed to remove break-in tapes protruding into main lines.
He explained the taps were discovered during assessments and inspections of the BSA mains. The total project cost was $71,106.50. Insight Pipe is a certified COSTARS contractor. The cured-in-place method saved about $300,000 for the authority, Disney said.
In an update on the Pennsylvania Small Water and Sewer Grant Program, Disney said the authority board passed resolutions and approved submitting five proposed projects. Total costs for the projects are $1,491,780. If the grant is successful, the matching funds would be taken from the authority’s Capital Reserves.
The projects would include a sanitary sewer rehabilitation at Jefferson and South streets at a cost of $232,560; storm sewer rehabilitation at South Avenue and High Street at a cost of $382,710; storm sewer rehabilitation at Hilton Street and in the 600 block of East Main Street at a cost of $457,380; treatment plant administration building window and door replacement at a cost of $309,540; and treatment plant operations project at a cost of $109,550.
In a review of 2022, Disney explained, “Costs continue to be near all-time highs including fuel, pipe, fittings, lab supplies, and chemicals. Sanitary revenue is projected to be slightly over forecast for the year while storm revenue is projected to meet the forecast.”
He continued, “Successful capital projects in 2022 included a new 3rd story roof at the WWTP, Wi-Fi and SCADA upgrades, IT upgrades, new CCTV sub-surface camera, and pipe lining projects in both Sanitary and Storm. An unprecedented amount of work has been done to both sanitary and storm systems including the installation of ten new catch basins and five new manholes, and the repair of 37 catch basins and six manholes. Regarding the system wide assessments performed in 2022, nearly five miles of Sanitary sewer mains and over four miles of storm mains have been cleaned/flushed/video inspected/recorded and assessed, using NASSCO certified ratings.”
