Bellevue and Avalon officials will no longer have to debate who will pay how much of the West Bellevue Road sewer repair project. Avalon borough manager Harry Dilmore has obtained a grant that will cover the entire $370,000 projected cost of the mandated work.

While Avalon officials have argued that the borough contributes only about 13 percent of the sewage carried by the line, so should only bear a similar share of the repair cost, Bellevue officials have been told that a century-old document exists somewhere that indicates the boroughs equally share maintenance and repair costs. That document has never been located by officials from either borough.

Challenging terrain and years of neglect added to the cost of replacing a line along the remote roadway bordered by both municipalities. The line has been leaking raw sewage, and the Allegheny County Health Department last year ordered both boroughs to make temporary repairs and come up with a plan for permanent resolution of the problem.

Those plans are in place, which is why, Dilmore said, he was able to locate funds that will be channeled through Allegheny County and the Quaker Valley Council of Governments for the "shovel-ready" project.

Bellevue earlier had submitted a grant application on behalf of both boroughs that would have covered $250,000 of the repair cost, leaving the boroughs to split the remaining $120,000.

"This settles the fight," Dilmore said.