Palmerton Borough Council approved the resolution to allow Lower Towamensing Township's new sewer line proposal to tie into the Palmerton line for a small section.

Borough manager Rodger Danielson said the areas that would tie into the Palmerton line include Marshalls Hill and Red Hill Road. Lower Towamensing Township has been working on new public sewer lines for several years."We're finally there," said Council President Terry Costenbader. "That was a really long, drawn-out process."Before the plan could continue, the state Department of Environmental Protection wanted to have Palmerton's approval of the portion involving it.The council also announced the winning bid of the excavating company that will do Part B of the road work this summer.Livengood Excavating Inc. in Walnutport came in with the lowest bid out of six companies. They bid just under $1.4 million for the project, which includes extensive black topping of Franklin, Lafayette and Columbia avenues beginning at near Church Street to the East Lane area. In most cases, the work will involve curb-to-curb paving."It's a phenomenal price for paving for us," Danielson said.The excavating company will begin work at the top of the hill and move down to the lower streets, so they do not have to cross over the roads they just redid, Danielson said."It's going to be a very busy time in Palmerton this summer," he said.Councilman Jeremy Barbosa asked when the work will begin.Danielson said Part A of the 2016 Road Program will begin the Monday after Father's Day. This involves curbing and storm sewer upgrades. Luzerne County Site Contractors in Hazleton came in with the lowest bid at $143,250.The curbs that will be upgraded to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements are those located around the borough park and at the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Seventh Street. The work will include making ramps and a dimpled surface to help blind people know where the ramps are located.In addition to the ramps, the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Seventh Street will also have storm sewer upgrades. Danielson said new inlets and piping will be installed there.Once the curbing and stormwater sewer upgrades are completed, the road paving work will begin sometime in mid-July, Danielson said.With the bid coming in lower than expected, Danielson said he would like to expand the project to eventually include portions of the West End and spotted areas south of Delaware Avenue that haven't been paved recently."We will never get this price again," Danielson said.If the borough had to use grant money to do the work, it would be more expensive, he said. The borough took out a municipal bond earlier this year to pay for the roadwork projects. They were able to get the bond with significant savings.Danielson told the council he would prefer to pay forward and expanded the roadwork project and use the grant money for smaller projects if needed.The council also discussed a grant being pursued by council Vice President Kris Hoffner. The $2,000 one-to-one matching grant would help the Palmerton Lighting Committee to install additional outlets for the Christmas in the Park event.Hoffner said they would like to install an additional 24 GFI outlets on the lampposts, as well as get another lamppost for the northeast corner of the park and an outlet in the planter near the bandstand. The grant is through the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce.The council members voted to approve pursuing the grant.