ASHLAND — The Ashland Area Municipal Authority plans to replace two aging water mains that have needed multiple repairs in recent years.
The authority board discussed the situation with Alfred Benesch & Co. senior designer Natalie L. O’Connor at the Feb. 29 meeting.
O’Connor spoke of two problem areas in the borough where water main breaks have been occurring. The AAMA board directed Benesch at its January meeting to prepare cost estimates and an engineering proposal.
One waterline is along state Route 54 (East Centre Street) near Groody’s Catering Hall and Ashland Foundry and Machine Shop, and the other is on Middle Street from Eighth to 10th streets. O’Connor said both areas were reviewed to determine what needs to be done.
“The line near Groody’s is 810 feet and has an estimated cost of $91,000, and that is just for construction,” O’Connor said. “We add in some contingencies to that price. Survey cost is $5,600, and the East Centre Street design will be $10,900. The Middle Street construction cost is about $50,000, with another $4,500 for design.”
The survey cost of $5,600 is a total for both projects.
“We lumped the survey cost together because if we’re going to send our survey crew to Ashland, we would like to survey both projects while we’re up here. This is going to have to be done whether we have the money to do it now or in the fall or next year. Let’s get it ready even if you decide not to do (Middle Street) at this time,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor explained why the design cost is so much more for the East Centre Street than for Middle Street.
“The reason the East Centre Street is about double the price of Middle Street is because of the need for the highway occupancy permit that needs to be done with PennDOT,” O’Connor told the board, adding that the cost for the permit is about $5,000.
Middle Street does not need a permit since it is a borough street.
O’Connor said the estimated total cost for both projects is about $190,000, which include design, bid and build both projects.
“I know the Groody line has been a big headache for everybody,” O’Connor said. “I don’t know how much longer, if any, that you want to put it off.”
Board member Jerome Schmoltze asked about the idea of putting in a pressure reducer in that area. O’Connor said that the water pressure does not seem to be the cause of the breaks.
“The line is like Swiss cheese down there,” O’Connor said. “Once there’s a new pipe in there, Jerome, we don’t think that pressure would be an issue.”
O’Connor recommended getting the survey done soon in order to submit the highway occupancy permit application for East Centre Street project.
“We need to do the survey so we can do the highway occupancy plans to give to PennDOT, and then we need PennDOT to approve everything,” she said. “That process in itself could take two to three months.”
Authority solicitor S. John Price advised the board to authorize $10,000 for the initial soft costs in order for Benesch to do the survey work and prepare the permit application in order to approve submission at the March meeting.
“If you remember, both of these jobs were put on our wish list three to four years ago,” O’Connor said. “We can at least do the Groody’s work using that money that we have left from the initial dam reimbursement.”
“Is it the consensus of the board that we have the money to do the job?” Vice President Lawrence V. Madden asked. “We’re not throwing money away by doing that?”
O’Connor said the work is necessary, with board President Francis Menne and Price agreeing.
“Based on what Natalie says, and unless we get hit with something unexpected on the dam project, we should be OK,” Price said.
Schmoltze motioned to approve the survey and permit work, with William Kripplebauer making the second. The approval vote was unanimous.
The monthly operations report noted that both filters at the water treatment plant are working well. The authority recently replaced the almost 25-year-old filter media that was put in when the plant was constructed in the early 1990s.