City’s $3.6 Million Wastewater Improvement Project Sparks Concerns for Castanea Township

By Emily Wright

CASTANEA—At the Castanea Township meeting on Monday, May 5, 2025, township supervisors voiced concerns about the potential financial impact residents might face due to the City of Lock Haven’s recent decision to move forward with pursuing funds for improvements to its wastewater treatment plant and collection system. The upgrades to the treatment plant, which were approved at the city’s April 21 meeting, are estimated to cost $3.6 million.

During the meeting, Castanea Township Chairman Brandon Coleman discussed what these improvements could mean for Castanea residents and outlined his concerns. “A couple of things that we just got from the city are a concern of mine,” he said. “We received a letter from the city [stating] that they are applying for $3.6 million to upgrade their sewer plant already.”

Coleman explained that after he reviewed the numbers for the seven areas that send wastewater to the treatment plant—which include Castanea Township and the city itself—it appears that Castanea could face a significant rise in annual wastewater treatment costs because the city charges the municipalities it serves for wastewater treatment and also because of the sizeable loan to finance improvements to the treatment plant.

“We can’t control it; this is the city. Like I said, $3.6 million is what they’re looking to borrow,” Coleman emphasized.

One Castanea resident in attendance questioned how the city determined the amount of funding needed to pay for the wastewater treatment plant improvements as well as for other projects the city has recently undertaken.

“For this project, they are taking a PennVEST loan, and they will bill out the cost of it to the municipalities that they treat sewer for,” Coleman replied. “We did get correspondence from them, and like I said, they’re looking at a $3.6 million loan, so right off the bat, it could be at least $29,000 more a year that we’ve got to come up with.”

Coleman went on to say that, based on the documents he received from the city, the loan term extends until 2047. “This is something that is going to affect us,” he said.

Township Supervisor Charles Clukey Jr. pointed out that the city’s sewer infrastructure is antiquated, noting that wooden sewer lines still exist within city limits. He also mentioned the city’s ongoing difficulties with managing its water and sewer systems, pointing to ongoing water pressure issues and the need for new regulators to fix the problem.

“They keep blowing these things out— the regulators are shot, and they need rebuilt or replaced. They keep jacking the pressure up to get the pressure going,” Clukey said. “It’s going to blow again because sewer lines are for non pressure; it’s gravity. Water lines are thicker plastic for the pressure,” he explained.

As township residents raised questions and expressed their frustration, Coleman stressed that the township has no control over the situation. “I understand your frustration. My frustration is that no matter what we do or how we look at it, we’re going to be paying for their upgrades to the sewer because we send them our sewer to treat,” he said. “These are costs that are out of our control. We’ve made cuts, and we’ve changed the way we do things here to save money.”

The proposal for the project was prepared by the city’s engineering firm, Gwin, Dobson, & Foreman, Inc., and it outlined a series of replacements aimed at maintaining and improving the wastewater treatment facility to ensure the reliability and efficiency of the city’s water treatment operations.

A few of the key improvement costs include $1.6 million for a new ultraviolet water disinfection system, $850,000 for influent screens to filter incoming water, and $250,000 for a plant control system (SCADA), among other expenses.

On top of construction expenses, the city will spend approximately $445,000 on engineering, legal, and administrative fees—covering plans, permits, project management, and interest accrued during construction. An additional 10% contingency of $320,000 is also included to account for unforeseen costs.

One township resident commented that, after seeing water rates rise in the city, he expected sewer rates would follow the same trend. However, Coleman reassured everyone in attendance at the meeting that there would be no increase in Castanea Township’s sewer rates this year. “We’ve agreed not to raise the sewer this year,” he said. “I’m just telling you that we’re going to have to look at how we’re gonna consume another possibly minimum $29,000, and that’s not counting what they might raise, the percentage on being able to just treat the sewer. This is just the start of it, so we’re doing everything we can here to try to streamline it.”