The Munhall Sewer and Sanitary Authority is one step closer to becoming an autonomous entity following Munhall council's vote to sell the borough's sewer lines to the authority for $600,000.

The vote, taken at the Oct. 15 council meeting, was 5-0, with Councilman Rich Votedian and Council Vice President Jill Fleming-Salopek absent.

The borough and sewer authority had been working for more than a year to come up with a sales agreement that would allow the authority to purchase the sewer lines and to proceed with the capital upgrades required under a consent order the borough signed with the state Department of Environmental Protection in February.

At the time the decree was signed, the borough also agreed to pay an $8,500 fine. The borough could have faced fines in excess of $100,000, but the DEP was impressed with the borough's plans to address the sewer problems and to form the sewer authority.

Controversy was created over the formation of the sewer authority in May and June when Munhall resident Shawn McCallister appeared at borough council meetings questioning why the two bodies had not reached a sales agreement and accusing council of creating the authority simply to provide a job for former Councilman Michael Terrick.

Mr. Terrick was hired late last year as the authority's executive director at an annual salary of $65,000.

Despite Mr. McCallister's accusations, council continued with its plans to sell the sewer lines to the authority.

The authority was created on paper in September 2006, a month after DEP officials met with municipal officials to review the scope of the borough's sewer problems and the fines it could face if the problems weren't corrected.

But it was September 2007 before Munhall council transferred $900,000 from a borough sewer fund to the authority so that it could hire staff and do business.

Since that time, the authority and council were working on a sales agreement. At the June 18 council meeting, President Bernard Shields said council had received a proposed agreement from the authority and that municipal solicitor Gregory Evashavik was reviewing it.

The original sales price of the sewer lines was supposed to be $500,000, but it was raised by $100,000 when it was agreed that the borough would retain the maintenance of the above-ground catch basins, Mr. Terrick said.

Mr. Terrick said the authority initially will take out a bank loan to cover the purchase and later roll the balance of the bank loan into a bond issue the authority will have to float to fund the capital improvements required by the consent order.