SUN-GAZETTE FILE PHOTO

Authorization to submit an application for a matching grant from the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) totaling $1.5 million to extend the riverwalk from Maynard Street to Elm Park was given approval by the Lycoming County commissioners at their meeting this week. The county’s half, $750,000, would be from Act 13 funds.

Commenting on the benefits to the community of the riverwalk, Commissioner Marc Sortman, who had served on the Loyalsock Township Board of Supervisors said, “In my previous role we worked at adding paths in our community to connect our community to the riverwalk which connects to Montoursville, Loyalsock, Williamsport, (and) South Williamsport. Our main focus and goal was the next generation is looking for healthier, cleaner ways of enjoying their time and we felt that the paths put all that together.”

“It allows you to connect to the parks and that’s what we’re doing here now…that allows you to connect parks to the river, to exercise, to just a more relaxed environment that you can get out and enjoy yourself in. We thought that’s the direction of the future and that we wanted to be in front of that,” he said.

Commissioner Mark Mussina cited the tourism associated with the county’s location as an access point to the Pennsylvania Wilds as an incentive to support extending the riverwalk, while Commissioner Scott Metzger shared that locals enjoy the benefits of the walk as much as tourists.

“It’s a great asset to our community,” Metzger said.

In other actions, the commissioners approved three agenda items related to Resource Management Services (RMS), including a consent assessment of civil penalty with the states Department of Environmental Protection in the amount of $5,000.

Jason Yorks, RMS director, said the penalty was related to a residual waste supplier document that was out-of-date. His department is working to ensure other documents are not out-of-date, he said.

Also for RMS, the commissioners approved a proposal with PennCore Consulting LLC in the amount of $16,600 for a national pollution elimination document, which is necessary anytime more than an acre of soil is disturbed, and an agreement with ARM Group LLC for engineering services at the landfill.

The commissioners noted that expenditures for RMS are paid for by funds generated by the department.

In another matter, the commissioners agreed that the county will serve as tax collector for Lewis Township, as no one had run for tax collector there in the last election.

The next meeting will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Executive Plaza, 330 Pine St.