Rehoboth seeking funds for Schoolvue sewer project
The Rehoboth Beach commissioners unanimously agreed to seek a grant to reroute a sewer line in the Schoolvue neighborhood.
Mayor Sam Cooper said the proposed $480,000 project would solve a variety of problems with the line.
In the late 1930s, the sewer line to the wastewater treatment plant ran diagonally across a field from what is now Rehoboth Elementary School, which Cooper said was not in the city limits at the time.
Years later, the field was subdivided, and several houses were built over the sewer line, in the area of New Castle and Stockley streets extended and School Lane. Five houses now sit right on top of the old sewer line.
Cooper said the main reason to reroute the line is to ensure it does not back up. He said one of the first places to get flooded, should the line back up, is the boiler room at the elementary school. Cooper said if the line were to collapse underneath one of the houses, it would be impossible to repair. Finally, he said, if the line were to leak, it could contaminate the soil underneath the houses.
“It is sort of a ticking time bomb if something were to happen,” Cooper said.
The solution, Cooper said, is to reroute the line. The proposed plan is to run a new line under Bay Road, connecting to existing manholes on New Castle and Stockley streets extended.
Cooper said the project has been on hold for several years because of its cost, but new monies could be available through the state's Clean Water Advisory Council’s Revolving Loan Fund, which also provided a loan for the city’s ocean outfall project. Cooper said the council had extra funds available from projects it had granted money to but were never built.
The city had wanted to do the sewer project as part of the upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant that are included in the costs of the outfall. Cooper said the city could get the work done sooner if the sewer line is considered a separate project.
While the city has applied for a grant, Cooper said he expects the money to come in the form of a loan. Typically, loans through the revolving fund are repayable in 20 years. Cooper said one benefit to getting a loan through the council, as opposed to an outside bank, is lower closing costs.
Cooper said he expects the project to be funded and that work on the line could begin this winter.
Ryan Mavity covers Milton and the court system. He is married to Rachel Swick Mavity and has two kids, Alex and Jane. Ryan started with the Cape Gazette all the way back in February 2007, previously covering the City of Rehoboth Beach. A native of Easton, Md. and graduate of Towson University, Ryan enjoys watching the Baltimore Ravens, Washington Capitals and Baltimore Orioles in his spare time.
