Residents along Park Avenue in Nesquehoning will soon see the borough's drainage project continue.

During the Nesquehoning Council meeting Wednesday, Councilman Mark Stromelo reported that the work along Park Avenue in the Hauto Valley Estates portion of the borough was supposed to resume in March but now hopes it will begin in April.The storm sewer drainage project runs on the south side of Park Avenue from the intersection of Park Avenue and Route 54 to Fourth Avenue.Penn Earthworks Inc. of Beaver Meadows, who submitted the lowest bid of $71,550, is completing the work.Stromelo explained that the company ran into some problems with the concrete boxes being made wrong and not to the borough's specifications. The issue was supposed to be resolved by the company over the winter.He added that once work resumes, the drainage part of the project should be completed in 30 days.The next step, Stromelo said, is that residents along this portion of Park Avenue will be required to install curbing. The cost of curbing is the responsibility of homeowners. Letters have not yet been sent out about this.Following the curbing, the borough will then pave the road. The approximate completion date is October.Council seemed a little frustrated by the delays so far because the contract was awarded on July 24, 2013, and the project has not yet been restarted after it was postponed because of winter.The drainage project discussions began early last year because problems with water runoff from the area was a problem.During the April 2013 council meeting, Councilman Frank Jacobs reported that the water table was high in that area, causing problems with the road.In July 2013, bids ranging from $71,550 to $249,999 were opened and the contract awarded. Penn Earthworks broke ground on the project in October.In other matters, the borough is looking into renting a street sweeper to remove all the anti-skid material left from winter on its streets.Councilman Don DeMarco said that he has been looking into the rental and found one company in the area. The weekly rate for renting a sweeper is $3,444, but there are deals for monthly rates."The streets are really, really, really bad," he said. "We want to get this done right."Council determined that it would need the sweeper for at least a month and hopes to begin street sweeping in mid-April.Following a brief discussion, the board voted to allow the rental to go through as long as all questions were adequately addressed before the rental agreement is drawn.The solicitor and streets committee will now contact the company to discuss the matter further; and DeMarco will look around to see if there are any other companies in the area that rent street sweepers.