A group of residents who live near the intersection of Kettle Road and City View Street in Logan Township are considering whether to organize a private sewer line project to solve issues connected with ground there that is unsuitable for septic systems.

One family purchased and renovated a house and can’t live there because of a failed system and insufficient ground for an alternative type of system; another can’t sell a house that has been in the family for similar reasons; while other families’ systems produce foul runoff and have polluted wells in the neighborhood.

The residents have tried and failed to persuade township supervisors to authorize a publicly financed project, because it would be too expensive for the township’s self-financed sewer operations, and because other areas of the township have priority on Logan’s 20-year Act 537 sewer plan, which runs to 2038.

Officials estimated a public project to sewer 11 properties in that neighborhood would cost $481,000, making the work unfeasible.

But a private project might be done for less than half as much, due to there being no need to adhere to requirements like payment of prevailing wages, according to township Sewer Department Director Dave Pozgar.

At the supervisors’ most recent meeting, Pozgar offered to help the residents with their proposal, on his own time.

He isn’t an engineer, but he has 40 years’ experience in the field, Pozgar said.

One area where he could be of assistance might be in acquisition of rights of way, he said.

He could also try to enlist the help of a local engineer who is familiar with the issues, he said.

The neighbors ought to apply for possible financial assistance to lawmakers that represent the area in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, suggested township solicitor Dan Stants.

A development agreement would need to govern such a project, officials said.

Logistics of project

Not all the residents of that neighborhood would necessarily be in favor of participating, officials said.

If such a project were undertaken, it ought to be done in accordance with township sewer specifications, according to Pozgar.

That would require township inspections during construction, said Supervisor Ed Frontino.

If the work were completed according to those specs, it would make sense for the residents to offer the line to the township, Pozgar said.

The township would accept, Frontino said.

Then it would become a public sewer, and all properties within 150 feet of it would be obligated to connect, Pozgar said.

While the neighborhood is included in the township’s Act 537 plan, that doesn’t mean there are line construction plans already drawn up, according to Pozgar.

Such Act 537 inclusion is merely conceptual, he said.

Logan is a “frugal” township with low taxes that the supervisors want to keep low, according to Supervisors Chairman Jim Patterson.

There are probably a hundred properties in Logan that could be sold if they had sewer service — including two that he owns, Patterson said.

And grants aren’t available, Pozgar said.

They wouldn’t be until the sewer rates are much higher — creating more hardship — than the current $53 a month, he said.

The soils in the Kettle-City View neighborhood are “terribly shallow,” said Blair County Sanitation Committee Sewer Enforcement Officer Luke Helsel.

A septic drainfield needs about 20 inches of suitable soil, but in that area the soils are four to 12 inches deep — and mostly under 10, Helsel said.

The only option for properties that aren’t “grandfathered” in the area is a holding tank, or a discharge system to a permanent stream — and there are no streams there, Helsel said.

A holding tank is not financially feasible for most families, officials have said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.