City Council at a recent meeting authorized the preparation of final plans, specifications and estimates for a sanitary sewer extension to serve 39th Street in Eldorado, uphill from Maple Avenue to the edge of the city.

The extension, which would be constructed next year, would cost $132,000 and serve three properties with homes and six undeveloped lots, according to a memo to council from City Manager Peter Marshall and Public Works Director Nate Kissell.

The city would cover the $24,000 cost of design, permitting, easement acquisition, paving and landscape restoration, but the nine property owners would be assessed the remaining $108,000, the memo said.

Each would need to pay about $12,000 over five or 10 years at 2% interest, according to the memo.

Those on the five-year plan would pay $2,400 annually, while those on the 10-year plan would pay $1,200, according to the memo.

The memo recommends that the city grant $4,000 to each owner with a malfunctioning septic system to help pay for a lateral line to connect to the proposed main extension.

The Altoona Water Authority will be doing the construction work, according to the memo.

Logan Township is planning to extend the proposed 1,200-foot city line farther up the hill.

The Logan extension would go another 1,200 feet to take care of three additional problem properties and open up additional ones for development, officials have said.

The city, the authority and the township have been cooperating on the project.

The project is being done under order of the state Department of Environmental Protection in response to a complaint in April by a property owner whose plans to build a house have been delayed by lack of a sanitary sewer line.

The city is also planning a storm sewer line for the area, again based on complaints — which have been renewed lately at City Council meetings — of runoff problems for property owners on 39th Street.

The city is considering alternatives for the storm sewer, Kissell said.

They could cost between $300,000 and $500,000, depending on whether they’re designed to handle storms likely to occur once every 10, 15, 30 or 50 years, and depending on how much needs to be done to deal with environmental issues like wetlands, Kissell said.

He expects “resolution and direction” within one or two months on the storm sewer project.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.