SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - The borough council and PennDOT are at odds over reimbursements for the Route 61 widening project.
The council voted Nov. 7 to stop preparations for the project until a written agreement with PennDOT is in place concerning cost sharing. If an agreement can be reached, the work will add two lanes to Route 61 through the borough. The borough, however, doesn't want to pay to move utility poles along the busy highway.
At the meeting, Borough Manager Scott Graver said recent correspondence with PennDOT "have indicated an about face with some of the reimbursement costs associated with the project. It is now my recommendation to council that we cease all further involvement with the project until a written agreement is ratified between the borough and PennDOT," he said.
According to Graver, PennDOT may only pay half the cost of moving utility poles on Route 61, instead of all of it.
Graver said at a council meeting in May that the entire project cost for the borough comes in at about $800,000. In a recent email, however, Graver said the additional cost to the borough could be $500,000.
"Moving poles is just a very small part of the project. In order to move a main electric transmission line, you need to move poles, street lights, main lines, secondary lines, transformers and every individual service connection along the entire route. Doing this requires large, heavy equipment that takes space to operate. The (Route) 61 corridor is already a congested corridor. Attempting to perform intense construction activities in a limited space will require tremendous amount of additional time to compensate for traffic control/congestion," Graver said about the possible costs.
Graver said Thursday that notes from meetings with PennDOT officials indicate a 100 percent reimbursement to the borough for moving the poles.
The borough council adopted two resolutions in May to proceed with the project. One was for water and sewer, the other for electric. PennDOT will pay half the cost of any work on water or sewer utilities related to the project and the whole cost of moving electric utilities, Graver said in May.
Estimated costs for the water and sewer utilities are $511,607 for the department and $579,312 for the borough. Graver said the electric is 100 percent reimbursable "mainly because our electric utilities are in our right-of-way and we're being asked to move them."
Ron Young Jr., a spokesman for PennDOT District 5, said in an email this week that PennDOT is reviewing its policy on reimbursement rates to utility owners for the relocation of any utilities due to state transportation projects. The current rate is 50 percent, he said.
"Once a final policy decision is made, the department plans to work with the Borough of Schuylkill Haven to reach an agreement for reimbursing the borough for relocating their utilities as part of the Route 61 Schuylkill Haven Safety Project. We do not have an estimated time frame for when the policy review will be complete," Young wrote in an email.
State Rep. Mike Tobash, R-125, said he is meeting with Graver today to learn more about the ongoing developments. He said he may also meet with PennDOT representatives today.
Tobash said he was going to "do what I can to make sure the project goes through as originally communicated."
In other news, the council and the police have agreed in essence to another collective bargaining agreement. The language will be inserted into an agreement and ratified at the next council meeting Tuesday, Graver said. Exact details were not provided.
The council approved a 3 percent pay increase for nonunion employees, accepted two resignations and agreed to advertise for the highway foreman position, one of two that will be vacant.
Richard Montag, the highway foreman, is retiring effective Jan. 2. He has been with the borough for 37 years.
Jerry Keller, equipment operator with the water and sewer department, has 43 years of service and is retiring Jan. 1. Both will be missed, council members said.
Mayor Mike Devlin thanked borough workers for their work during superstorm Sandy.
The borough also announced it will be lighting its Christmas tree at 5 p.m. Nov. 25 on Parkway.