Tarentum seeking $2.5 million from state for water system projects

Tarentum is eyeing more than $3 million in water line infrastructure upgrades, with council hoping to land most of the money from the state.

Council voted Tuesday to apply for about $2.5 million from the Commonwealth Financing Authority, an agency of the Department of Community and Economic Development.

Three projects would be targeted with the money: two in West Tarentum and one at the borough’s water treatment plant.

“I hope we get all three,” council President Scott Dadowski said. “It doesn’t hurt to ask, and it would be like free upgrades.”

The first project, dubbed the north water line, would include work in the western part of town near Davidson, Cedar and Pine streets, along with Conwell Avenue.

The cost is expected to be about $900,000.

Borough manager Michael Nestico said the borough would need to provide a matching share only for projects that cost more than $1 million.

The second project, he said, is called the south water line and would target work near Lawton and Dickey streets and Tripak Boulevard.

Cost is expected to be about $650,000.

“We have a little bit of everything going on,” Dadowski said. “They’re old, they’re falling apart and they need to be replaced.

“Just like anything else, when you replace one, you usually find something else that needs fixed.”

The most significant project would be done at the borough’s water treatment plant along East Fifth Avenue.

Cost for an all-encompassing upgrade would top $1.5 million, Nestico said.

The borough would be required to pay $583,000 if the state awards a $1 million grant for the work.

Dadowski said there is money set aside in the $11 million budget this year, but council also probably would pull some of the money from a 2021 bond issue.

The bulk of the cost at the water plant would be to replace a water tank.

“It would be a brand new million-gallon capacity and would almost double what we are able to store,” Dadowski said. “We’d have more water than we would know what to do with.”

If funding is approved, council expects the projects could begin in early fall and be completed this year.