Published: September 29, 2009 10:58 pm      

Officials are seeking grant for Ursina sewage project

SOMERSET — Financing is falling into place for a $3.2 million sewage treatment plant and pipeline system to serve the borough of Ursina.

A $2.34 million grant from the Rural Development Agency is expected, along with a $400,000 loan from the agency.

And Tuesday, the Somerset County commissioners at their meeting gave permission to the county’s Redevelopment Authority to apply for a $500,000 competitive Community Development Block Grant. That money, if received, also would go toward the Ursina work.

The CDBG money would allow residents to cut their monthly sewage bills of $44, down from the $55 now expected.

Construction is expected to start in the spring or early summer. An estimated 130 users will hook on to the system.

The system will include a new 36,000-gallon-per-day sewage treatment plant, about three miles of 8-inch pipe and a pump station.

Patty Adamczyk, executive assistant at the Redevelopment Authority, said the work is necessary because raw waste is flowing into Laurel Hill Creek and leaking from malfunctioning septic systems.

She praised the money received so far for the system.

“This is a godsend to them,’’ Adamczyk said Tuesday.

The state Department of Environmental Protection would not let Ursina hook up with the Confluence system, saying the plant already is overloaded.