"Public water to cost up to $8,350"

By Theresa Hegel, Intelligencer, October 27, 2010:

West Schwenkmill Road residents will have access to water, but at a price.


The Perkasie Borough Authority expects to bring public water to West Schwenkmill Road by Nov. 15, officials say.

The plan will help residents whose shallow wells faltered during the dry summer.

The PBA will extend water lines 700 feet along the road, from Deibler Elementary toward Three Mile Run Road, according to Gary Winton, manager of the authority.

Pipersville-based excavators J.L. Watts were awarded a $78,535 bid for the project, he said. Watts was the low bidder among nine contractors. The highest bid was $198,510.

"We thought prices would be better, but they weren't," Winton said.

The PBA plans to foot one-third of the bill for the project. The remaining 67 percent will be split between the 10 residents affected, though only six have committed to tying into public water right now, he added.

"The assumption is that sooner or later, they all are going to connect," Winton said.

The authority's "worst-case scenario" estimate is that connecting to public water would cost the residents $8,350, he said. Residents will likely be able to put 20 percent of the cost down and pay the balance of the costs over the next four years.

The figure doesn't include the price of paying a plumber to bring the water from the road to the house.

Four private wells went dry along West Schwenkmill this summer. The water authority provided a temporary water line and a water tank at two of the homes. Other residents opted to drill deeper private wells.

Many residents initially blamed the authority for their water woes, concerned that nearby wells operated by PBA were drawing down the water supply along the road.

The PBA says the culprit was a combination of the dry weather and the shallowness of the wells, many of which were less than 90 feet deep. Residents of West Schwenkmill say they are not thrilled with the expense of public water, but are pleased with the prospect of resolving the situation. . . .