CURWENSVILLE – Work is under way to obtain funding for a stormwater project in Curwensville Borough.
At Monday’s meeting, the Curwensville Borough Council approved a motion to finalize an application for Community Development Block Grant funding for the project, which will take place in the Walnut and Thompson Street area of the borough. The project would be designed to replace pipes and drains.
Aaron Keirn of the EADS group discussed the project with the council prior to the motion.
Keirn said the project construction costs will be about $214,000, which should be covered by the CDBG funding, but the remaining administration fees will have to be paid for by the borough.
Keirn said it may be possible to use liquid fuels money for the expenses, but the borough will need to discuss this with PennDOT. He said the application must be sent back to the county Oct. 9.
Keirn said he worked to obtain camera footage of the pipes, which will be replaced, but the footage is limited, due to the camera only being able to reach a few hundred feet into the pipes. However, he was able to get good footage.
Keirn said the footage showed that some sections of the pipes were in good condition, while others were cracked, partially collapsed and full of roots.
Keirn said the project will begin on Thompson Street, between State and Meadow streets and on Walnut Street, from the Methodist church as far as funding would allow.
Keirn said the actual scope of the project would be dependent on how bids for the project come in. He suggested the borough do more investigating, if they are able to obtain a camera with a greater reach, and to do some cleaning of the pipes to see exactly what condition they are in.
Keirn also said that the borough would not be able to make Anderson Street and Bradley Street part of this project, as the deadline for securing funding is too early and design for those streets would not be completed in time.
Keirn said it was important to keep this project beyond the limits of the impending streetscape project. He said this would keep any future work on the pipes and drains from having to damage the new streets and sidewalks.
