Sewer lining repairs set for Fox Chapel; council researching garbage collectors ahead of next bid

Fox Chapel officials have contracted with a Harmony-based construction company for a sewer lining rehabilitation project.

Council awarded the near $312,000 deal to Insight Pipe Contracting.

The project involves spreading materials through manholes along Buckingham, Hemlock Hollow and Old Mill roads, as well as along The Oaks, a small street off Delafield Road.

Borough Manager Gary Koehler said crews are not expected to dig up any roads or yards as part of the work. It is unclear when construction would start.

The materials used are like fiberglass and are designed to seal cracks and prevent water from entering the lines.

“You do this now before the clay pipe breaks and falls down and you have to dig it up,” he said. “This is a way to line pipe and extend its life for 60-plus years.”

The contract was available through COSTARS, the state’s cooperative purchasing program which helps municipalities get the best possible price on goods and services. The borough budgeted $420,000 for the project.

“Now that we have this price, we’re going to probably look at adding some additional lining next month or the month after,” Koehler said about the project coming in under budget.

The borough identified sewer line infiltration locations in a study about 15 years ago.

The manager said the worst areas were addressed through the years, and Fox Chapel now is working on medium infiltration spots.

“We do lining and we also do new pipe depending on where we are and what we’re working on,” Koehler said. “This is all because of the (Allegheny County Health Department) consent order that says you have to separate your stormwater from your sewage.”

The Feb. 19 vote to award the project was 6-0. Council President Andrew Bennett was absent.

Garbage contract

Council Vice President Harrison Lauer announced the borough has begun talks with garbage collectors to discuss services and market trends ahead of putting its next garbage contract out for bid.

Talks are being led by council’s refuse and recycling subcommittee, which includes Lauer, Bennett, Fred Leech and alternate Jonathan Colton.

The committee met Jan. 18 and talked with current hauler Vogel Disposal Service on Feb. 16.

Vogel charges the borough and garbage collection bills are paid for out of tax dollars instead of individual billing.

This year’s trash collection invoice was projected to be $910,000, about $10,000 more than last year. The added expense was not passed on to property owners.

Council adopted this year’s budget with no tax increase in December.

Lauer said information obtained so far indicated prices likely will increase significantly from the current contract, which includes unlimited weekly pickup and expires February 2026.

The amount of those possible price hikes was not available.

“We thought it would make sense to meet with contractors to get a barometer before we make any decisions on how to approach our bidding,” Lauer said. “We met with Vogel. They confirmed what we expected, not what we hoped for. They also gave us some related information about their business. We were interested in how important we are to them.”

The borough is expected to reach out to other companies later this year.

The garbage collection trend, based on neighboring communities, is a shift to limited curbside automated pickup with 95-gallon bins.

Sharpsburg and O’Hara both contract with Waste Management and went with that service in their latest contracts.