HOLLIDAYSBURG — Richard Reimer walked down a set of stairs last week to a carpeted basement family room with adjacent doors that led to a kitchen and workshop.

He pointed out wooden trim and panelling, boasting that he did all of the work himself.

But now that work is in jeopardy, he said, explaining an ongoing Hollidaysburg Borough sewer project will require him to tear up floors to replace under-home pipes — a cost he estimates at upward of $10,000.

“I have spent thousands of dollars building my basement,” he said. “I don’t ever want that compromised.”

Despite complaints from community members like Reimer, Hollidaysburg Sewer Authority members have argued that the under-home work is necessary to alleviate problems with the local system.

That opinion has held, though it is somewhat uncommon across the region, experts said.

“Under-slab (replacement) is very rare because it raises a lot of concerns,” said Tim Wagner, an environmental group manager with the state Department of Environmental Protection. “First of all, who pays for it?”

Mandated repairs

That is a question a group of Hollidaysburg residents have been asking for months at public meetings and in the privacy of their homes. The same was true when a group met at Reimer’s home last week.

“We are not against the sewer project. We understand the town is ancient,” affected resident Walt Zolna said. “Our problem is (the Hollidaysburg Sewer Authority) has no consideration whatsoever for the people in this town.”

Construction crews are now working to complete a sanitary sewer main replacement project in two sections of the borough referred to as the Legion Park and Jones Street areas.

A portion of the project, which will affect hundreds of properties, is required because water depth levels below manholes exceeded an agreed-upon limit set by DEP.

“When we identify an area that is overloaded to some degree, we ask them to come up with a corrective action plan,” Wagner said of the mandated work.

That excessive depth is mostly due to influx and infiltration — unwanted ground- and stormwater entering the sanitary sewer system. An abundance of stormwater in the system limits space for sewage, sometimes causing overflow.

In addition to replacing aged sewer mains, construction crews are working to separate any combined sewers, which now receive both sewage and stormwater. The goal is to eliminate as much stormwater as possible from the sanitary sewer system, Wastewater Operations Director Frank Hicks said.

The multi-million dollar project will be paid for with Pennvest funds. That includes lateral pipes — which connect homes to main pipes — but only up to property lines.

Homeowners are responsible for infrastructure within property lines, and they are required to pressure test those pipes, Hicks said.

“If you pass pressure or water column tests to demonstrate water tightness, then you’re in compliance,” he said.

If homeowners do not pass tests, they will have to pay for the replacement of their laterals and under-home pipes, often requiring excavation in basements and high costs.

“There have been numerous communities that found that (under-home work) is going to solve the groundwater problems in their sanitary systems,” Hicks said.

Another way?

Officials in some communities, where similar work is taking place, offered conflicting information. That includes Dauphin County’s Lower Paxton Township, which has often been used as a comparison point by both Hollidaysburg residents and sewer authority members.

A similar — but larger — sewer project is underway in a central Pennsylvania township, Lower Paxton Sewer Department Director Bill Weaver said.

“We are about half way done, and we have 10 years left,” he said of the work to remove stormwater from sanitary sewers.

Though the goal is the same, Lower Paxton’s work differs from Hollidaysburg’s when it comes to lateral and under-home pipes.

“Basically, the engineer concluded we don’t have any data and will not be able to get data on under-slab inflow and infiltration,” Weaver said, noting under-home work is required only in cases of extreme infiltration.

Lower Paxton officials also are covering the cost of laterals up to homes’ foundations, and, in the few cases when under-home work is required, they pay for that work, too.

“We say it’s at no cost to the property owner if they hold us harmless,” he said, explaining owners are responsible for maintenance and upkeep after the initial installation.

In lieu of widespread under-home work, Lower Paxton officials have opted to install a large holding tank within the system that will be able to take on any water than cannot fit in pipes during heavy rain. When the water level subsides, the tank will drain back into the system, Weaver said.

Weaver said the tank system was chosen as the “most cost effective solution,” though he admitted it also was an easier political decision.

Locally, Gallitzin Borough Sewer & Disposal Authority members also decided against requiring under-home pipe testing and replacement when completing widespread sewer system work, said Nancy Knee, the authority’s administrative assistant.

And like Lower Paxton, the Cambria County authority will pay for laterals up to a few feet from homes’ foundations, Knee said.

The Gallitzin project removed inflow and infiltration from the public system, Knee said.

“The upgrades were needed and long overdue, and the decision was not an easy one for the board, but it was necessary,” she said. “Now, we are working on removing that water from the private system.”

Letters will be sent to homeowners asking them to install proper sump pumps, roof gutters and downspouts, she said, explaining under-home work is not required.

Still, Knee said she and other officials anticipate ongoing projects to address ground- and stormwater infiltration issues.

“It is going to be an ongoing process,” she said.

Fairness questioned

Out-of-borough work has done little to impact the decisions of Hollidaysburg Sewer Authority members, as authority Chairman Regis Nale maintains watertight, under-home pipes will have a drastic impact on eliminating existing problems.

The only way to achieve watertightness is through pressure testing and repairs to substandard pipes, he said.

That opinion stems from engineering studies conducted on the Hollidaysburg System, Nale said, not shying away from the fact that few homes will pass pressure tests.

Nale also dismissed the notion of installing a holding tank like the one planned for Lower Paxton Township, explaining clean ground- and stormwater passing through the system and tank still must be treated at a sewer plant, resulting in unnecessary expenses.

“It is a constant increase in cost,” Nale said.

He also dismissed the idea that the authority could cover the cost of private property laterals and under-home work.

“How do we make this fair?” Nale said. “Does the individual pay for it, or do we pay for it and then raise the sewer rates? There is no way they are not going to pay for it.”

Fairness also has been a concern among some residents living in the project area, who question why pressure testing and other work is required in only two sections of the borough.

Though sewer officials have said studies show that inflow and infiltration are especially troublesome in the targeted areas, Reimer said he believes authority members have been tight-lipped with some decision-making details.

“All of this should be done with total transparency,” he said, revealing he has had difficulty communicating with sewer officials, especially at public meetings.

“They will never answer you,” Reimer continued. “To me, that is not transparency.”

A financial burden

However, residents gathered last week worried most about the cost of replacing under-home pipes.

Zolna led that discussion, claiming work to tear up floors and access pipes in some homes may cost more than $15,000, according to per-foot cost estimates he’s received.

Some residents, he said, are choosing to remove basement sinks and toilets and fill in drains with concrete to avoid additional costs, and others have chosen to lay pipe on top of floors circumventing and abandoning existing underground pipes.

Those options likely will decrease property values, Zolna said.

Reimer did not deny that he has been calling for sewer repairs for years, mostly because of past flooding in his neighborhood, though he said he previously suggested a simpler, less costly fix.

He sympathized with low-income homeowners who may not have enough money saved and cannot secure a loan to pay for underground work.

“There are people on Social Security, people with a fixed income,” he said.

Nale did not deny that some people will have trouble paying for required infrastructure repairs, saying he “feels” for those stuck paying for under-home work, but he also maintained that it is the best option.

Homeowners should get multiple bids to ensure they are receiving the best price before hiring a contractor, he said, also mentioning Community Development Block Grant funds made available to some residents at $2,000 per home.

“It’s not enough to do it,” he said, referring to under-home work. “We would like it to be more.”

Though Nale was sympathetic with low-income homeowners, he noted the importance of finishing under-home work by a set deadline — the deadline is one year after a resident receives a notice.

If work is not complete, there will be consequences, Nale said.

“We will have to put a penalty against them,” he said, explaining that penalty will come in the form of a fine of up to $300 per day.

Mirror Staff Writer Sean Sauro is at 946-7535.