HARRISBURG — Sen. Cris Dush (R-25) and Rep. Martin Causer (R-67) today announced a $2 million low-interest loan for the newly formed Keating Township Municipal Authority to improve drinking water service in the region.
“Properly functioning water and sewer systems are very important to the safety and well-being of any community, but are very expensive to build and maintain,” Dush said. “Fortunately, PENNVEST grants and low-interest loans exist to significantly offset these costs which means ratepayers do not have to bear the brunt of these expensive infrastructure improvement projects that in the end safeguard local water supplies, prevent pollution in our streams, and promote public health.”
“This is a long overdue project that will ensure safe and reliable drinking water to hundreds of residents in northwestern Keating Township, as well as portions of Foster, Lafayette, Otto and Bradford townships,” Causer said. “I was pleased to support this important investment in public health and public safety in these communities.”
The authority will use the funding to design a new drinking water system serving the unincorporated communities of Rew, Aiken, Gifford, Cyclone, and Ormsby in McKean County. The authority’s preliminary plans call for the purchase of water from Bradford City Water Authority via a transmission line beginning at the intersection of Big Shanty Road (State Route 4001) and Droney Road in Lafayette Township.
A 300,000-gallon storage tank and re-chlorination system is proposed in the Gifford community. From that location, the authority intends to expand service north and south along State Route 646. New water meters and service laterals will be included in the future project, and once completed, the private water systems currently serving the communities will be discontinued.
The authority’s proposed system will serve approximately 280 households in Keating Township, 81 households in Foster Township, 32 households in Lafayette Township, five households in Otto Township and one household in Bradford Township. The interest rate on the loan is 1%.
Since its inception in 1988, PENNVEST has served communities and citizens by funding sewer, storm water and drinking water projects across the Commonwealth. PENNVEST funding does not come from the state’s General Fund budget, but through the use of federal funding and prior bond issues by the state, as well as proceeds from Act 13 of 2012, the Marcellus Shale Impact Fee.
CONTACT: Ty McCauslin, Communications Director, at 717-787-7084 or tmccauslin@pasen.gov.