© 2003 by Joel Buckley
Disclaimer: THIS IS NOT A TOWNSHIP DOCUMENT. Conewago Online is not affiliated in anyway with the municipal government of Conewago Township. The township does not release the official meeting minutes until they are approved at the next regular monthly meeting. Conewago Online's crack reporter, "Flash" Buckley, presents this summary.The Conewago Township Board of Supervisors held a regular meeting on August 13, 2003. There was a good size crowd in attendance. One group was interested in getting more details on PennVest and the impact on sewer fees. They were mostly disappointed because not much more information was available yet. A second group was interested in noise related to a motorcycle track in somebody's back yard. Some of those present were:
As reported in Conewago Online on July 24, 2003: "PENNVEST has approved a $2,843,334 loan and $1,906,666 grant to Conewago Township to install more than five miles of sewage collection lines and mains to serve the Laurel Woods area of the township, where at least one- fourth of the on-lot septic systems are malfunctioning and contaminating local drinking water wells with coliform bacteria. The loan will be for a term of 20 years at a rate of 1%." Solicitor Yost indicated it would be some time (60 days) before revised user fees could be calculated. For readers who are dying to know the new bottom line, Conewago Online will attempt to make a rough estimate.
At first glance, the total award of $4,750,000 would appear to exceed the sewer system construction costs. To use more of the money, the township might reimburse itself for design expenses that it previously indicated it would pay for (rather than add to the rate base). There will also be additional administrative expenses associated with accepting this financing. [Editors Note: I have included here some additional information that was not mentioned at the meeting that Conewago Online obtained from other sources.] There will be some costs reimbursed to DTMA for the financing they set up but which we will not be using. It is possible the terms of the PennVest award may not allow the immediate transfer of ownership of the system to DTMA as previously agreed to. Changes to the operating and maintenance agreement with additional costs are possible. I believe some of PennVest money might be used to pay DTMA's capacity fee ($1300 per user), which was not included as a construction cost but was included in the "tapping fee".
Costs with DTMA financing were previously estimated at $6000 tapping fee and $80/month ($960/yr) combined sewer and capital surcharge fee. CO's preliminary calculations indicate the "tapping fee" would have to be substantially reduced, if not completely eliminated, to be able to accept the full amount of grant and loan. It is possible that the full amount will not be accepted. We were told that if the full amount is not accepted, the declined amount would have to include proportional amounts of grant and loan. (We can't just take all the grant money and only some of the loan.) If we are able to accept all of the grant, it would appear to represent about 40% of total system costs. A rough estimate might be a 40% reduction in tapping fee and capital surcharge portion ($55) but not the regular portion ($25) of the monthly sewer fee. Conceiveably this could mean a $3600 tapping fee and $58/mo ($696/yr) combined sewer and capital surcharge fee. NOTE: these numbers are rough estimates--actual numbers are likely to be rather different. There would also be additional savings over this rough estimate due to the lower interest rate. I suspect a higher tapping fee might be retained which would allow a further reduction in the monthly fee. Though my calculations indicate that a higher tapping fee would require declining a larger portion of the grant and loan, which would increase costs. So before more accurate figures can be computed, additional expenses must be determined and balancing of costs between the one-time "tapping fee" and the recurring capital surcharge fee must be made.
The board voted to accept the PennVest financing.
This represents a very significant reduction in cost to residents.
The board is to be commended for a job well done in acquiring the PennVest financing!
Remember - Next regular Board of Supervisors Meeting is Wednesday September 10, at 7:30 pm.
That's it - Flash