Lower Towamensing Township supervisors said the proposed sewer line project has risen in price.

Brent Green, the chairman of the supervisors, said in January that ARRO Consulting, based in Lititz, was reviewing the work that had been done on the project by Carbon Engineering and would let them know the feasibility of the project. He said the township received an update on Friday from ARRO.

“We got our first draft review of the documents and the agreements with a little bit of cost estimate, but they are not complete. They do not have the design plans that were prepared by the previous engineering company, so I’d say they are about halfway done,” Green said.

Originally, the project was estimated to cost $12 million. The newest figures indicate it is now roughly $16 million, which is a 30% increase, Green said.

In addition to construction costs, operation costs also have increased from $182,000 per year to $239,000 per year, Green said. With 690 dwelling units being served by the sewer line, the cost per dwelling unit went up $29 to $122 per month per dwelling unit.

Green said he thinks the reason ARRO has not completed its review is because Carbon Engineering has not given them all the design documents or at least not in the format that they want. He thinks they need to be AutoCAD documents.

Supervisor Michael Takerer asked if they should reach out to Carbon Engineering or if ARRO or the township’s solicitor, James Nanovic, should contact them.

Nanovic said someone needs to contact them whether it comes from the township, ARRO or him.

Resident Steve Meining said, “My bottom line point to this whole thing is we gotta get this thing moving.”

Green said that with only 690 customers impacted by the sewer line, the weight of the cost falls on too few people.

“So 690 customers sharing the cost of $16 million is a lot of money to put on those users. We can’t create more users, so that’s the whole issue moving forward,” he said.

Takerer said that the cost does not factor in any possible grant money the township could apply for to help cover the cost.

“I can promise you, we will be - when the time is right - looking at whatever we can to get any kind of additional funding to help with this project,” he said.

Green said, “We’re just taking the most conservative and say we’re not getting any money and this is how we have to look at it.”

Meining asked what the state says about this sewer project.

Green said the state requires all municipalities to have an Act 537 sewage facilities plan. Lower Towamensing Township has a 537 plan; it just don’t have to act on it as of yet.

“There will be a point where DEP will most likely come to the township and say it’s time to move forward with some of the areas of the township,” Green said.

The current plan for the sewer line has it providing service to Aquashicola, Walkton, Little Gap, Red Hill Road and Weiner Mobile Estates. The line is supposed to run along Little Gap Road and tie into the sewage treatment plant in Palmerton, as well as the Blue Mountain Ski Area Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Another resident asked if it would be possible to connect Aquashicola to the sewer line in Palmerton if the borough decides to upgrade their sewer main line on Delaware Avenue.

Green said the current agreement with Palmerton to connect Aquashicola to their line is that the township would cover 100% of the cost to run a gravity line through the borough.

“If there’s some sort of partnership that we can collectively both do, then that’s an option,” he said.