Municipalities target liquid fuels money for various projects
Mar. 4—Roads throughout Lackawanna County may be a bit bumpier this year, thanks to COVID-19.
Lackawanna County municipalities will receive just over $6.9 million, about 7% less than last year, in state funding meant to help communities maintain roads and bridges and cover other street-related expenses. Municipalities throughout the state will receive $452.7 million.
The Municipal Liquid Fuels Program, administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, is funded through gas tax revenue. Because the COVID-19 pandemic kept people at home, funding took a hit.
The formula for payments is based on each municipality's population and miles of locally owned roads. To be eligible for liquid fuels, a road must be formally adopted as a public street by the municipality, meet certain dimension requirements, and be able to safely accommodate vehicles driving at least 15 mph.
The City of Scranton will receive nearly $2.2 million in liquid fuels money, the most of any municipality in Lackawanna County, although it's about $167,000 less than last year.
Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti feels improved communication between city departments will help offset the decrease in funding.
"We've been working to make sure the community development office and DPW are working off the same list so we're not paving a street with liquid fuels dollars that we could have gotten a grant for," she said. "It helps lessen the blow."
South Abington Twp. received the third-highest amount in the county at $283,625, down nearly $22,000 from 2020.
A chunk of the money will go toward snow removal supplies, according to Township Manager David O'Neill. The township spends around $75,000 each year on the materials.
Another major expense is keeping the township lit.
"We have approximately $62,000 to $65,000 of electric bills just to keep the street lights on throughout the year," he said.
While the drop in funding may lead to to fewer paving jobs, O'Neill stressed some other expenses are necessities.
"It probably creates a little less street paving, overall," he said. "We still need to pay for our street lights and salt for the roads, but we can miss $20,000 worth of paving. Although it's not good over the course of years, we hope it's a one-time hit because nobody was driving last year."
Neighboring Clarks Summit was awarded $166,972, down nearly $13,000 from last year.
"The roads get more and more expensive to pave, and the money is going down and down, so we have to come up with money from other resources to continue the maintenance," said Borough Manager Virginia Kehoe.
The City of Carbondale received $246,008, down nearly $19,000 from 2020.
City Clerk Michele Bannon said the city purchased LED lights about two years ago and the financing payment is made with liquid fuels funds. The city also uses the money for materials and supplies for road maintenance.
Old Forge received $263,889, down about $20,000, but borough residents looking for some relief from rocky roads might be in luck.
"We're planning on doing some road paving and repairs," borough manager Mary Lynn Bartoletti said. "We have a bit of money that we kept aside from last year. We try to wait a couple years so we have a nice amount of money and we're able to do a bigger job."
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