Myerstown to undertake wastewater treatment facility feasibility study

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Myerstown Borough Council unanimously agreed to approve a wastewater treatment facility feasibility study from RETTEW Associates Inc. for $39,500 at its monthly meeting Tuesday.

Wastewater operations manager Barry Ludwig explained that, though there are no immediate issues with the facility, many parts in use date back to 2008-09 and are becoming increasingly difficult to replace.

“There’s a lot of stuff showing its age, and what my recommendation would be is to have them do the study and start looking at potential renovations,” he explained. “When I say renovations, I mean looking at the integrity of concrete, structural steel, controls, PLCs, VFDs, all this kinda stuff. A lot of the electrical components we have are outdated; they’re hard to get, they’re hard to replace. We buy our VFDs off of eBay because they’re hard to find.

“I really don’t want to be caught in an emergency situation where we can’t get this stuff. We have spares, but I can’t stock a spare of everything, so we try to stock the most critical and the most crucial.”

The facility treats wastewater from Myerstown Borough, Jackson Township, Millcreek Township, and Richland Borough. Costs of renovation would likely be split between those municipalities, though details haven’t been discussed as the cost of renovations is unknown.

The feasibility study will study top priorities for repair and renovation and estimate their costs, looking both at current needs and anticipated future needs.

When asked whether the facility will likely need to expand its capacity, Ludwig said it is unlikely they’ll need to do so for a while. Richland and Millcreek, he said, currently use around 200,000 of their 614,000 capacity. He estimated Jackson’s use at between 300,000 and 400,000, with a 693,000 capacity, and said Myerstown similarly has plenty of growing room.

“It really isn’t an issue towards expanding to treat more, this is more a maintenance-related project, in my opinion,” said Ludwig. “There’s tanks down there I can’t take out of service; I don’t have spares, so you need professionals with a lot of standby pumps to do this kind of stuff.”

Council also discussed proposed revisions to South Railroad Street, which they are planning to curb next year as it was originally constructed without.

An engineer sketch for the project reduces the road’s cartway from 32 feet to 26 feet, though with some additional width in one portion to accomodate parking. Council requested that the engineer draw up another sketch maintaining the road’s width at 32 feet.

Council president Park Haverstick II explained that official borough maps list this road as being 32 feet, so they would need to legally change the map (a process involving review of the planning commission and county planning) to reduce its width.

However, the west part of the road leading into Jackson Township is planked by banks that would require the installation of retaining walls to curb the road and maintain a 32-feet width.

Council disagreed on how to handle this around 50-foot portion of the road, with Ronald Ream suggesting that the property owner be asked to pay for the wall’s installation and maintenance.

Other council members pointed out that soon after this segment of road, the Jackson Township portion is narrowed anyway, and questioned the need to keep this portion of the road at 32 feet.

The engineer will come back to council with another sketch maintaining the 32-foot cartway, at which point council will compare sketches and decide on next steps.

In other news, council:

• Unanimously approved a contract change order deducting $124,415.64 from the Railroad Street paving project, as there were less materials needed than expected, and revising the contract from $256,410 to $131,994.36.
• Unanimously agreed to pay the first contractor pay application of $118,794.92 for the road project and request CDBG disbursement of $109,720.76 to the contractor, and Borough of the Homeowner Curb and Sidewalk payment of $9,074.16.
• Unanimously approved Wastewater Treatment Department employee participation in the Pennsylvania Rural Water Association Apprenticeship Program, following an executive session.
• Unanimously approved use of facility requests for a Myerstown Vitality Partnership event at the gymnasium Nov. 5 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. ($25 for the use) and a Grundsau Lodge #17 Uni float at the recreation park Feb. 2 at 8 a.m.
• Unanimously approved wastewater billing relief requests from two properties, which were verified to be billed for sewage that didn’t go down the sewer line.
• Unanimously approved minutes, bills, and reports.
• Heard that a budget meeting will be held Oct. 20 at 6:30 p.m.

Myerstown Borough Council meets at 6:30 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month at the Myerstown Community Center, 101 S. Railroad St. Meetings are open to the public and do not require prior registration.