The Carbon County Council of Governments announced the purchase of an asphalt zipper and a training session on the equipment for the members' municipal workers.

The training session took place at the Parryville Fire Company.The asphalt zipper is the first piece of shared equipment purchased by the COG, which will help to grind up and smooth out deteriorating roads throughout the county. It received funding for the purchase in the 2016 grant cycle from the Commonwealth Financing Authority Monroe County Local Share Account.The Carbon COG, spearheaded by state Sen. John T. Yudichak, D-Luzerne/Carbon, and local elected officials from the 18 member municipalities, is an organization that was created to improve communication, share resources and apply for grant dollars.The group has received $231,000 from the LSA grant program since its inception in early 2016 and has raised over $6,000 from an auction that was held last fall."The Carbon County Council of Governments continues to take the right steps forward in saving our municipalities money through their cooperative efforts," Yudichak said. "With the purchase of this first piece of equipment it shows the initiative this group has taken to improve the infrastructure throughout Carbon County.""Just listening to the workers talk from our different municipalities, you can hear how excited they are to put this machine to work for their respective communities," said President Kris Hoffner. "This machine is going to make our roads better and that's what this is all about. Working together in a collaborative way to make Carbon County better."