Sentinel photo by SIERRA BOLGER
Mifflin County Planning Committee heard from SEDA-COG’s Carol High during the board’s regular meeting.

LEWISTOWN — County officials advanced a long-planned project to replace aging water infrastructure serving Juniata Terrace after the Mifflin County commissioners approved actions needed to preserve federal funding eligibility for the effort.

The Mifflin County Planning Committee received an update during its Jan. 22 meeting on the Juniata Terrace Water Main River Crossing project, which is intended to improve drinking water service and increase water pressure for fire suppression.

Carol High, project coordinator with the SEDA-Council of Governments, told the committee the commissioners approved required resolutions and funding actions earlier that day, allowing the county to remain eligible for federal Community Development Block Grant funding.

The project, developed through Mifflin County and SEDA-COG, aims to address long-standing concerns with water service in Juniata Terrace. High said Mifflin County, the Mifflin County Municipal Authority and affected residential communities have discussed replacing the existing water main for many years.

Several substantial fires in Juniata Terrace have highlighted the need for increased water pressure to support fire suppression, High said.

A 2021 video inspection of the original water pipes — estimated to be about 100 years old — showed significant internal encrustation, further underscoring the need for replacement, she said.

The project calls for extending Lewistown’s existing water main by installing a new 8-inch pipe from West Fourth Street (Business U.S. 22) along Rosewood Avenue to the edge of the Juniata River. Crews would then install a 12-inch water main beneath the river, followed by a new 8-inch pipe from the riverbank along the Trinity Plastics property. That line would connect to an 8-inch pipe installed in 2025 along Roundhouse Road leading to the Juniata Terrace water tank.

High said the county submitted an annual Community Development Block Grant entitlement application for $167,000 to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development at the end of October 2025 to fund the first section of the project.

An additional competitive CDBG application seeking $926,500 for the remaining sections is scheduled for submission before Feb. 6, High said.

Currently, Juniata Terrace relies on a single 12-inch water line that runs beneath the Route 103 bridge adjacent to a gas line, High said. She told the committee that routine maintenance requires wedging the pipes apart to access either line, a process she described as difficult and potentially dangerous.

Although that pipe is newer than the century-old lines in Juniata Terrace, High said it is the same age as the bridge and has already surpassed half of its expected service life.

After reviewing available data, High said officials concluded that constructing a completely new line was the most viable long-term solution. The portion included in the entitlement grant would connect the existing 8-inch main in Lewistown Borough to the river, while the competitive grant would fund the river crossing and connection to the line installed in 2025.

“Will this completely replace that pipe?” asked Dan Dunmire, vice chair of the Mifflin County Planning Committee.

High said the new line would become the primary source of water, while the existing pipe would remain in service as a secondary source until it reaches the end of its useful life, which she estimated at roughly 20 years.