Sewickley Water Rates Won't Increase in 2013

Here’s a bit of good news for Sewickley Water Authority customers: Water rates won’t increase this year.

Brian Hohman, water authority manager, said the $2.3 million budget the board of directors approved last year does not include a rate increase.

Rates will remain at $9.01 per 1,000 gallons for customers in Sewickley, Glen Osborne, Haysville, and portions of Aleppo Township and Edgeworth. Sewickley Heights customers will continue to pay slightly higher rates at $10.78 per 1,000 gallons due to a 24-hour pumping system.

For the past six years, Hohman said the water authority has maintained or slightly decreased its operating expenses.

Hohman said controlling the authority's expenses has meant not raising rates and having additional money left over to put toward expenses and the water authority’s five- to 10-year plan to replace aging water lines.

In 2013, $1.6 million in capital projects are planned in Sewickley Heights. Scheduled work includes water line upgrades on Scaife, Blackburn, Persimmon and Backbone roads. The project will be bid out and work is expected to begin in early spring.

Past projects have involved the elimination of duplicate lines on Nevin Avenue and on Beaver Road in Glen Osborne in conjuction with the sewer interconnect project. The focus will shift into town next year, according to the plan.

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