For the last 40 years, Exeter residents dealt with sewage spilling into their basements and businesses. Borough officials got nearly nine million dollars for a new system.
At a press conference on Jan. 3, officials announced they were approved for an $8,777,000 loan to update their deteriorating sewer system. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Program financed the loan.
Around 60 percent of the borough runs on a single sewage/storm line. Borough Council members Lori DeAngelo and Joe Pizano have found backlogged sewage in their businesses or homes.
“Every winter because everything slows down, our boss had to get his [sewer] line flushed out,” said DeAngelo.
“Yeah, I mean, even my house now – I live on Wyoming Avenue – the sewer smell comes up through the shower in the basement,” said Pizano.
Pizano has served as council chairman for over 20 years. He said the project will update and separate the storm and sewer systems along Schooley and Wyoming Avenues.
“We’ve had an issue along Schooley Avenue for years and years and we’ve tried to rectify it. And we just decided at some point we need to continue the storm separation on our main hub,” said Pizano. “So, if you look at it, the heart of the town is Wyoming Avenue. And everything else is the veins and arteries.”
DeAngelo said the sewage system left Wyoming Avenue scarred with potholes. During the conference, sanitation workers fixed part of the line just down the street.
“You don’t often think of the road underneath when you’re driving on it. But, y’know, you’re driving over what, 1940 infrastructure? 1950? I actually found an article [about] that part of the Avenue that we’re doing collapsed…[in] like the 30s,” said DeAngelo. “So, we keep just inheriting those problems. So, it’s time to fix it.”
Officials estimate it will take around a year to complete the project. Council and the Wyoming Valley Sanitation Authority will pay off their USDA loan over the next 40 years with an interest rate of about three percent.
After finishing the sewage project, borough officials said PennDOT will resume work on Wyoming Avenue and Route 11 repairs.
