A new well at Jim Thorpe’s east side water treatment plant could cost $750,000 should the borough go through with the project.

Council discussed the feasibility of drilling the new well at its Thursday workshop meeting, taking a detailed look at a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection program that would provide significant professional services at no charge to the borough, but would commit the borough to pay for whatever the state’s experts ultimately recommend.

Borough Manager Maureen Sterner laid out the terms of the DEP arrangement.

“DEP will pay professionals to identify locations to drill test pits, they’ll pay for and drill the test wells,” Sterner said. “If the sampling is okay, DEP will then have their professionals complete and submit a pre-drilling plan and also an aquifer testing plan. Once that’s approved, they convert the test well to a production well.”

The borough’s financial obligations would begin after the state’s work ends. Jim Thorpe would be responsible for any access improvements needed to reach the test well sites, sampling costs at each stage, a public water system permit application, and ultimately the full construction cost of connecting a production well to the existing distribution system. That could include piping, a well house, a disinfection system and related infrastructure.

DEP provided an initial cost estimate. Connecting a new well to the existing distribution system could run approximately $750,000 before permitting fees and additional testing costs. But officials were quick to note that figure is not a firm number.

“It could be better, it could be worse,” Sterner said.

Council Vice President Mike Yeastedt said some of the costliest line items might not apply depending on where the well is ultimately sited. The estimate included contingencies, 30% for cost overruns and 10% for construction, as well as a full well house with controls, flow meters, chlorine treatment and a backup power generator, which the council member said accounts for nearly half the projected cost.

“If the well were to be in close proximity to the existing well house, we wouldn’t need, for instance, the well house with controls, flow meters, chlorine treatment and power backup generator,” Yeastedt said. “We would just simply need something to house the well pump and then connect it to our existing system.”

There is also the question of three-phase electrical service. The estimate included the cost of extending three-phase power to the well site, which is not currently available. Depending on what PPL charges for that extension, that line item alone could significantly affect the final bill.

The project, from initial site identification through final construction and connection, is expected to take three to four years.

Before any of that can begin, Yeastedt said, geologists and engineers must first confirm there is a suitable aquifer to tap.

“Something has to be done. We don’t really have a backup at this point,” he added.

Financing the project is the other obstacle. The borough added money to its water reserve in recent years, but officials said the reserve is far short of what would be needed for a project of this scale. Council President Connor Rodgers suggested that the recently completed Center Avenue water main project, a $2.57 million construction contract approved in April 2025, may have come in below its engineer’s estimate, which could slightly improve the borough’s debt position.

“I don’t know if we can really jump on it this year,” Rodgers said.

Sterner offered a different framing on the timeline. With construction still three to four years away, the borough would have time to build up reserves and explore its borrowing capacity before money actually needs to be spent.

DEP is also updating asset management documentation and standard operating procedures for the water department at no cost to the borough.

Sterner said the next steps are to check the borough’s borrowing base, the borough’s legal limit on how much debt it can take on, and to confirm directly with DEP whether the asset management and standard operating procedures work must be completed before the well program can begin.