Inter-Municipal Sewer Agreement Approved for Beatty Hills

BROOMALL–The Board of Commissioners on Monday night
approved the Inter-Municipal Sanitary Sewer Agreement with Springfield Township for the installation and operation of the Beatty Hills low-pressure sanitary sewer system.

The board voted 6-0 in favor of the agreement. 1st Ward Commissioner Joseph Rufo was absent from the meeting because he was away on business.

The Beatty Hills low pressure sanitary sewer system will give 95 homeowners in Marple and Springfield townships, Township Manager Anthony Hamaday told Marple Newtown Patch after the meeting.

The total projected cost of the project is $1 million, but the township’s cost will be greatly reduced because of grant funding and requiring the 95 homeowners to share the cost, Hamaday said.

A $240,000 grant has already been secured for the project, Hamaday said.

“Our labor is a match to the grant, so we know we have to spend at least $240,000 in labor costs,” Hamaday said.

The grant funding and a “tap-in” fee—a $1,500 fee which the township will require homeowners to pay—will cover almost all of the township’s other expenses related to the sewer project, Hamaday said.

Homeowners will have the option of deciding whether to connect to the Beatty Hills sewer system as soon as it’s installed or waiting until their septic systems fail, but either way they will be required to pay the $1,500 at the start of the project, Hamaday said.

So far, 27 homeowners have said they want to connect to the sewer system right away, 14 said they do not want to connect to it, and other homeowners have not responded yet, Hamaday said.

Homeowners who decide to connect to the sewer system will pay a total of $8,000 to $10,000 each, Hamaday said: $1,500 for the tap-in fee; about $3,000 to $4,000 for a sewer grinder pump; and $4,000 to 5,000 to hire their own plumber to connect their home to the sewer system and disconnect the septic system.

In an effort to reduce homeowners’ costs for the sewer grinder pumps, the township is bidding out the pumps, Hamaday said. The pumps typically cost $5,000 to $6,000, but the township is hoping to purchase the pumps for a reduced cost of $3,000 to $3,500, Hamaday said. 

After approving the sewer project, the Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a motion to advertise a bid for items for the Beatty Hills sewer project: sewer grinder pumps and sanitary sewer pipe and appurtenances. 

As part of the motion, the board also approved a bid advertisement for the Little Darby Stream Bank Stabilization on Fawn Hill Road.