The Lycoming County commissioners today will consider grant agreements with the Federal Emergency Management Agency that will provide funding to buy and demolish nine frequently flooded properties in the county.
On Tuesday during a commissioners work session, John Lavelle, county hazard reduction planner, asked the commissioners to consider the agreements, which will provide about $1.7 million in buy-out funding.
Six of the properties are in Plunketts Creek Township, two are in Lewis Township and one is in Shrewsbury Township, Lavelle said.
The properties were damaged during previous floods and during last September's flood alone sustained about $1.25 million in damage, Lavelle said.
The buyout program allows the properties to be bought and demolished. The land then becomes the property of the municipality in which they are located.
No permanent structure can be built on buy-out property. It can be used for recreation, open space and community gardens.
In other business, the commissioners will consider the awarding of contracts related to the expansion of the county landfill's landfill gas collection system.
David Bonus, landfill operations manager recommended contracts be awarded to Landmarc Environmental Systems, which has offices in Missouri, Illinois, North Carolina and Kentucky. The company submitted a low bid of $67,000 to drill 20 wells in the landfill.
L/B Water Services Inc. of Selinsgrove submitted a low bid of $41,000 for piping, and Forrer Supply Co. of Levittown, $10,000 for well heads associated with the project.
The project will allow more landfill gas, which is created by decomposing waste, to be captured and used to power engines in the landfill's electricity-generating co-generation plant. County Resource Management Services, which operates the landfill, also plans to upgrade the co-generation plant.
The commissioners will consider a reimbursement agreement that will provide about $30,000 in federal funding for design and inspection services for the upgrade of a parking lot along Commerce Park Drive. The project included the paving and lining of a park-and-ride used by people accessing the Susquehanna River Walk, as well as the fencing in of a nearby rail siding owned by the SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority and used by the Lycoming Valley Railroad.
The cost of the project is included in the total cost of the river walk and brings that project's total to about $2.4 million, according to Mark Murawski, county transportation planner.
The commissioners approved emergency repairs to the county's Continuously Operating Reference Station, which provides users of global positioning system technology with more accurate data, according to Frances McJunkin, county Geographic Information Systems planner.
The CORS antenna, which was located at the county Court House, was damaged and will cost about $18,000 to replace, McJunkin said.
