The Leetsdale Municipal Authority has re-extended a sewage agreement offer to Sewickley, but it's unlikely that Sewickley officials will accept the proposal.

Sewickley Council earlier this month decided not to respond to a letter signed by five members of the Leetsdale Municipal Authority proposing to accept all of the sewage from Sewickley’s plant. LMA is an independent state-approved authority consisting of appointed members from Leetsdale and Edgeworth. The Sewickley Authority is run by borough council. 

Sewickley Manager Kevin Flannery said the Leetsdale Municipal Authority extended a similar offer in 2009, when a study showed it wouldn’t be financially beneficial for Sewickley to go to Leetsdale.

At the Oct. 13, 2009 council meeting, it was recommended that council decline the offer because a preliminary review suggested Sewickley customers would essentially pay higher rates, about $30 more per quarter for 12,000 gallons consumed. 

John Kroeck, chairman of the Leetsdale Municipal Authority, refuted the numbers then and now. He said LMA's proposal would actually lower customer sewage bills and the authority even offered to pay for an independent engineering study.

"Sewickley sewage could be pumped about 1,300 yards to the existing Edgeworth sewers, then to the LMA plant at a relatively low cost," the letter states. 

Leetsdale completed an $8 million expansion project at its plant facility two years ago and Sewickley has also spent more than $4 million to upgrade its plant. 

Leetsdale Municipal Authority recently came to agreements with Leet Township and Bell Acres to pump sewage to Leetsdale and Kroeck said Leet and Bell Acres customers can expect lower future rates. New lines are being built from Bell Acres through Leet that will connect to the municipal authority plant.

Bell Acres is under a consent order with the state Department of Environmental Protectin to address its four aging sewage treatment plants. The plants are being converted to pump stations and, once the lines are diverted, sewage will be pumped to Leetsdale and the old plants will be demolished.

Click the PDF attached to this story to read the Leetsdale Municipal Authority's full letter to Sewickley. 

--

Keeping up with news in the Sewickley Patch is easy—simply like us on Facebook!