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Bowmanstown plans road upgrades

The Bowmanstown Borough Council discussed some upcoming road work Tuesday evening.

Borough engineer Jessica Rehrig said plans have been finalized for stormwater and water runoff management on Lime Street.

Pavement repairs were done on Lime Street between Hamilton and Ore streets, and it now connects to the Meadowcrest Manor development.

Rehrig said she submitted the plans to the state Department of Environmental Protection in late August. They have 45 days to review it and come back to the borough with a decision. The plans were also submitted to the Carbon County Conservation District for review.

Councilman Norman Engle Jr. said the borough maintenance department has compelled two-thirds of the prep work on all of the borough streets that needs to be done before crack and sealing work can be done.

The work has to be completed before temperatures reach 40 degrees, because the sealant won’t seal correctly in colder temperatures. The sealant helps to protect the pavement from the freeze and thaw damage of winter.

“We need to seal the streets, so they don’t break up,” Councilman Rob Moyer said.

Engle said letters will need to be sent to residents on Lime Street that will be affected by the installation of curbing, which will affect six homes on both sides of the street, according to borough secretary Tracy Burbage.

Currently, the borough has enough funds to install curbing from Lime Street to Ore Street. They would like to continue the curbing down Ore Street to White Street, but that will have to wait until funding becomes available.

Moyer said the streets committee selects projects based on priority. The projects range in cost from $90,000 on Lime Street to $50,000 for the first 350 feet of Lincoln Avenue and $10,000 for patching from Stony Hill Street to Ridge Street.

“These are just cost estimates,” he said. “We don’t know how much it will end up.”

The residents have been asking the council to provide a five-year plan of what roadwork they would like to tackle in that time period.

“We can’t rebuild the streets in short order,” Moyer said. “We’re looking into patching. We will rebuild priority areas and patch the others.”

As part of the budget and finance report, Moyer said the borough expects to receive $35,647.97 in liquid fuels for 2019, which will all be used for street maintenance, he said.

The borough also received $3,546.46 from the state for the 2018 Municipal Pension Fund; $3,967.59 from the state for the 2018 Fire Relief Fund; $1,156.40 from the Recorder of Deeds for August 2018; $36.81 from the Magisterial District Court for August 2018; and $683.64 from the Tax Claim Bureau for August 2018.

In other business, Council President Kara Scott thanked John Spirk for donating a bench that was installed at the Green Street playground.

“Thank you. That was generous,” she said.

Scott also asked the council to consider a motion to have the old carpet removed from the upstairs of the municipal building. The space is rented to the community.

“The carpet itself is in bad condition,” Scott said.

She would rather have bare floors than the carpet.

The council agreed and a motion was passed to have it removed.

Leaf pick up will occur this fall, but the dates have not been determined, Engle said.

Trick or Treating will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Halloween.

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