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City authority plans to adjust High Street manholes pre-paving

The Williamsport Municipal Sanitary Authority voted Wednesday to sign an agreement with the state Department of Transportation as authority crews plan to begin next spring to adjust an estimated 60 manhole covers on a nearly 3-mile route along High Street in advance of milling and repaving work.

Prior to the authority vote, Charles Hauser, director of engineering for the authority, told members about the plan by PennDOT to mill and repave High Street, from Hepburn Street to the bridge on Lycoming Creek Road crossing Lycoming Creek into Old Lycoming Township.

The authority approved the agreement that allows the authority to receive 75 percent of the costs per manhole in the form of reimbursement from PennDOT, Hauser said.

In other words, if it cost $600 per manhole adjustment, the authority would receive 75 percent of that cost back, he said.

The 60-manhole cover listing is an estimate and not a specific figure, but it would be done before the milling and paving so as not to damage the new pavement, he said.

The $2.25 million reconstruction project is to be put out to bid in May 2018, said David Thompson, a spokesman for the PennDOT District 3-0 in Montoursville.

In addition to the paving, the work includes repair of a bridge abutment at the Old Lycoming Township end of the project and installation of necessary curb ramps and sidewalks, he said.

The work would go through the spring and summer and should be completed in October 2018, he said.

In other matters, the authority discussed the proposed stormwater management responsibilities as it continues to work with Williamsport City Council. A meeting of the authority operations committee is scheduled for noon March 8.

City Councilman N. Clifford “Skip” Smith, chairman of the public works committee, has requested the authority have its meeting ahead of the committee meeting, which is set for March 11.

The city has to make a decision as to whether to allow the sanitary authority to take over the management and replacement. It also is planning to set up a budget and work plan that includes issuance of fees as of July 1 to homeowners, owners of industries, businesses, and non-residential and multi-family dwellings to pay for the potential replacement of aged stormwater systems throughout the city.

The fees for the average homeowner are estimated to be about $17 per quarter, or $70 a year.

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