This morning, the Northern Blair Regional Sewer Authority voted unanimously to enter into an agreement with Team Ten LLC to purchase sewer capacity for the authority.
“This is a win-win situation,” said NBRSA Chairman Charles Diehl. “We have the opportunity to buy capacity at a very low cost and also help Team Ten get started at the paper mill.”
The proposed agreement would allow Northern Blair Regional Sewer Authority the opportunity to purchase 21,000 gallons of capacity at a yearly rate of $50,000 which breaks the cost down to approximately $2.30 per gallon.
“That is about half of what Tyrone borough charges,” said Jason Moore, the engineer for NBRSA. “This is a good agreement for the authority. It will help us expand the capacity at a low cost. The cost at Logan Township is about $10 per gallon, so this deal is very effective for the authority.”
Currently the projected costs for 2003 are without Team Ten going online with the mill, $519,000 for Northern Blair Sewer Authority and $494,000 for Tyrone Borough. With Team Ten online at 35 percent capacity, the costs change to $382,000 for Northern Blair and $559,000 for Tyrone Borough with the Team Ten costs at $279,000.
“We can’t beat this deal,” said Diehl. “Buying an extra 21,000 capacity and our costs will still be just over $60,000 under the estimated projections. This is a win for Northern Blair and could be a win for Tyrone borough as well.”
Team Ten LLC President John Ferner was pleased that a deal could be worked out with Northern Blair.
“We went to Northern Blair and Tyrone Borough to ask for a reduction in cost,” said Ferner. “The people from Northern Blair were receptive to working with us and by them buying capacity, it gives us a better rate. We are hoping that Tyrone Borough will work with us as well.”
Most of the debate during the meeting was about the future of this agreement if the new mill isn’t successful.
“We are buying this capacity, not leasing it,” said Diehl. “We also have the option to buy additional capacity. With the completion of Interstate 99 coming down the road, we are not sure how much capacity we will need. With this agreement, it will help us get ready for what could happen in the future.”
The agreement will bring a $61,000 savings over the projections of flow for 2003 to Northern Blair Regional Sewer Authority. When Team Ten LLC goes online with the American Eagle Paper Mill in Tyrone, if NBRSA didn’t agree to this they would save $111,000 annually but not increase in capacity.”
“We’re going to need more capacity,” said Diehl. “This is the lowest price that I have seen for something like this. It’s in our best interest to make this purchase.”
The motion to have the Authority solicitor work out a formal agreement with the representatives from Team Ten LLC and bring the formal agreement back to the authority.
