Public Sewage: It Really Does All Flow Downhill

I had a letter to the editor that ran in today’s Washington Observer-Reporter regarding the never-ending headache that is the Millers Run Sewage project in my home town of Cecil Township.

There was help from officials

I was disappointed to see the letter regarding tap-in fees on the Millers Run sewerage project, specifically the claim that no organized effort was made by state and county officials to help people obtain grants to pay for the tap-in fees. To say that “not a single one of these elected officials has made any sustainable effort to do anything for their constituents in Cecil” is untrue.

After I was elected, I was told by Pennvest, a state authority that provides grants and low-interest loans for infrastructure improvements, that the municipality never applied for state funding. Instead, it opted to go with private bonds at an undisclosed interest rate.

Sen. Barry Stout and I have been working to secure funding and educate people about available funding options. We held a grant-funding workshop to help people pay for their tap-ins and partnered with local banks to offer specialized funding for those who did not qualify for grants. So far, we have helped 57 families receive a total of $125,000 in direct financial aid.

I also worked to direct $275,000 of local share gaming funds to the Cecil Township Municipal Authority to help reduce about $3 million of debt service that otherwise would have to be paid by the users.

I am myself a Cecil Township resident, and my home is one of those included in the Millers Run sewerage plan.

 

State Rep. Jesse White

Cecil Township

That letter was in response to this letter, which ran last week:

Help with tap-in fees is needed

Phase I of the Millers Run Sewerage project has been completed in Cecil Township. Residents have begun paying the exorbitant mandatory tap-in fee of $6,200 per residence. This huge outlay for the hardworking, low-to middle-income families in the area is only part of the cost. Residents also must dish out a substantial amount to contractors/plumbers to dig the lateral lines to connect and pay to have their septic tank filled in. Monthly sewage bills are projected to be high, inclusive of a high debt services fee.
From the start, poor decisions were made by township supervisors in financing the project. To make matters worse, no organized effort was made to obtain state grants which could have offset some of the high cost to residents. Every day, readers of the Observer-Reporter can see articles that detail various community projects receiving state grants. Many of these projects are designed to benefit future residents and workers by attracting them to the area. Cecil residents have been taxpayers for years, and we haven’t seen one cent from our fair state to help with this infrastructure improvement.

Our elected officials in Washington County as well as the state House and Senate have been contacted numerous times regarding this issue. Most readers know who these public servants are (if you don’t, visit www.legis.state.pa.us. E-mail contact addresses are available.) Not a single one of these elected officials has made any sustainable effort to do something for their constituents in Cecil. We do not want to hear about “missed grant funding application windows” or “it’s too late now that the project is just about done.” We don’t want to hear about federally available low-interest loans, because most of us can’t qualify because of the extremely low income guidelines. Some residents on SSI and fixed incomes couldn’t even qualify. Cecil Township residents are every bit as deserving as the residents in neighboring communities that received or will receive state assistance for similar projects. We invite our elected officials to come through with funding to offset the excessive tap-in costs through rebates or service at no charge for a defined period.

Sandy Lawrence

Cecil Township

I do not disagree with some of Sandy’s letter, but she and I had spoken on several occasions and she was well aware of what I have been trying to do for the people in this project. I really felt that lumping those of us who are making a legitimate effort to help with those who could care less about the people (and there are some of them out there when it comes to this project) wasn’t really very fair.

But what the heck, I’m as big a fan of the First Amendment as anyone, so it’s all good. And I certainly don’t mind being held publicly accountable for my job performance during my first term.

For the record, I am far from finished with the Millers Run Sewage project. There are some major questions that have gone unanswered for far too long, and I will continue to work until I have those answers.