Important Information Regarding the A-108 Sewer Project
The City of Franklin has been receiving numerous inquiries about the General Authority of the City of Franklin and the upcoming A-108 sewer project. In hopes of keeping the public informed and up to date we have put the following fact sheet together.
What is the General Authority of the City of Franklin?
The General Authority of the City of Franklin was created under the provisions of the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Act in 1969 by ordinance of the City of Franklin.
The General Authority owns and operates the public water lines, water supply and treatment facilities within the City of Franklin and the Rocky Grove area of Sugarcreek Borough. In addition to the lines, the water system consists of 2 water treatment facilities, 5 booster stations and 8 water storage tanks.
The General Authority also owns and operates all sanitary and combined sewer lines within the City of Franklin. In addition, the General Authority owns 75 percent of the sewage treatment plant with Sugarcreek Borough owning the other 25 percent.
The Authority Board is appointed or re-appointed for five-year terms by the Mayor and Council of the City of Franklin. The authority does not have employees, but rather the personnel are City of Franklin employees with costs reimbursed by the General Authority through a management agreement.
How did the upcoming sewer project come about?
The City has numerous combined (sanitary and stormwater) sewer lines throughout. This was a very common practice in the early years. The lines were intended to transport raw sewage to the sewage treatment plant, and during periods of rain to prevent flooding the runoff was also captured and connected to the sewer lines. The combined sewage and stormwater would make its way to the sewage treatment plant for treatment prior to being discharged into the Allegheny River. When the amount of runoff exceeds the capacity of the system, untreated stormwater, and wastewater flow directly into French Creek or the Allegheny River through combined sewer overflows (CSO).
The General Authority’s CSOs are permitted by the PA Department of Environmental Protection. The CSOs are routinely monitored, and data is forwarded to DEP.
As the collection system degraded over time, CSO’s began occurring in locations that were not permitted by DEP. As a result, the General Authority was mandated to prepare/implement a corrective action plan to eliminate non-permitted CSOs. The EADS Group was hired to develop a corrective action plan which they did. The plan calls for three phases moving forward.
What is the A-108 sewer project?
A-108 is a manhole in the Phase I area that would routinely overflow (non-permitted CSO) during periods of excessive rain. This manhole came to be the project title, MH-A-108 CSO Elimination Phase 1. The purpose of the A-108 project is to separate the sanitary and stormwater which will be done in a number of ways. Predominately a new sanitary sewer line will be installed, and all sewer laterals will be connected, while the existing line will be transformed into a stormwater line. The A-108 sewer project has been divided into two areas which will be described below.
What areas are affected by Phase 1?
Contract #1 – A significant portion of Third Ward will be impacted. The perimeters will be French Creek on the south, intersection of Grant Street (US 322) and Atlantic Avenue to the west, Highland Avenue to the north and the New Life Worship Center and French Creek Productions to the east.
The work in this area will involve the installation and rehabilitation of approximately 17,800 linear feet of pipe via open-trench, 6,700 linear feet of trenchless PVC sewer pipe lining, 240 linear feet of HDPE sewer pipe via pipe bursting, 130 linear feet of 30-inch boring, 129 manholes, 9,300 linear feet of sewer laterals and 425 lateral viewports and connections. This work will be completed by Bison Construction, Inc. at a bid price of $9,414,808.
Contract #2 – A significant portion of the Downtown area will be impacted. The perimeters will be French Creek to the north, Miller Park area to the west, Pearl Street to the south and 11th Street to the east.
The work in this area will involve the installation and rehabilitation of approximately 19,500 linear feet of pipe via open-trench, 8,900 linear feet of trenchless PVC sewer pipe lining, 1,900 linear feet of HDPE sewer pipe via pipe bursting, 144 linear feet of 30-inch boring, 150 linear feet of 24-inch boring, 185 manholes, 6,400 linear feet of sewer laterals and 475 lateral viewports and connections. This work will be completed by Mortimer’s Excavating, Inc. at a bid price of $10,513,895.
When will the project start?
Tentatively, both contractors are expected to begin construction in the spring of 2025.
How long will the project last?
Both contracts are to be substantially completed within 540 days, once they begin.
How do we pay for this project?
The General Authority submitted an application, documentation and engineered drawings to the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) requesting $22 million in funding assistance. PENNVEST is a financing authority through the Commonwealth of PA which provides low-cost financial assistance to address, water, wastewater, stormwater, and non-point source pollution problems that impact public health, safety, environment, regulatory compliance, and economic development.
PENNVEST awarded the General Authority $16,715,542 in grant funds and $5,284,458 in the form of a 1-percent low interest loan for 20 years.
What does this loan mean to rate payers?
Unfortunately, it has meant an increase in our monthly sewer bills. As you are aware, there was a $10 monthly increase starting January 2025 for residential customers and commercial customers saw a similar increase based upon their water meter reading. In 2025, residential customers are paying $65 per month.
Based upon the loan repayment schedule, rates in 2026 will also be increasing by at least $2.09 per month for residential customers and commercial customers will be adjusted accordingly.
The monthly loan repayment amount for this project alone is nearly $25,000.