Wheatland council has agreed to a deal with Consumers Pennsylvania Water Co. -- Shenango Valley Division to fix a sewer line the water company's contractor broke.

The storm sewer line will be replaced between Church Street and Council Avenue, with the borough and the water company each paying $2,500 for the pipe, and David Construction Co., West Middlesex, installing it for free, said Mayor Thomas Stanton.

If council wants to, it can tie the work in with a more expensive project to replace another section of the sewer line to alleviate flooding in the industrial area.

The borough would have to pay $20,000 in another deal with David, Stanton said.

The industrial-area sewer line is full of rocks, stumps and even a railroad tie, said Ed Winslow of Winslow Engineering, Hermitage.

Water still gets through it, but during heavy rains water backs up. The former Sawhill Tubular plant, currently owned by Wheatland Tube Co., and Omega Logging Inc., have been flooded, Stanton said.

Wheatland Tube had been approached about contributing to the project, but the company is not interested, borough officials said.

The borough also had talked about extending Main Street and making replacement of the sewer line part of the project, but that was tied to a Wheatland Tube expansion that is no longer proposed, officials said.

No grant money could be found for the project, officials added.

"We're kind of at a quandary to what to do," Winslow said, noting that doing nothing will result in more flooding. "It's a very difficult and expensive problem."

Stanton said he thinks PennDOT road work created the problem, but PennDOT will have nothing to do with it. He said PennDOT told him storm sewers are a municipal responsibility.

In a relater matter, borough officials said they're still not satisfied with restoration work done last summer on Canal and Chestnut streets on another water company line-replacement project.

Winslow said he inspected the site in July but did not accept it. Borough street department foreman Al Scoccia is not satisfied with the work, Council President David Cusick said.

The seal used on the roads did not secure the rocks in the road surface, and they are getting into the storm sewer line, said Councilwoman Lorraine Jones.

Residents also have complained of standing water near a fire hydrant, which might indicate there is a leak, officials said.