The City of Williamsport officials have signed a resolution authorizing an intergovernmental agreement between the city and the Borough of South Williamsport regarding the continuing levee repairs toward the flood-control system’s certification and accreditation.

“As you all know we’ve been absolutely rocking and rolling with our levee repair efforts, funded out of our $8 million federal earmark,” said Scott Williams, city planner and assistant director of the city Department of Economic and Community Development, to City Council.

The earmark was awarded in federal Fiscal Year 2023, but there also is a second Fiscal Year 2024 earmark that is coming, he noted.

While the earmark was awarded in 2023 there was not a grant agreement in place until the end of last year, he said.

That puts officials on both sides of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River on a similar timeline with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency grant agreement with the 2024 award in the amount of $3.5 million. The work that is described by that $3.5 million earmark is partially in the city and partially in the borough.

“We are the recipient, and our levee system is accredited as a whole as a system,” Williams said. “It is in our interest to move ahead, since we have all the momentum and we have the team together to administer the $8 million.

“This resolution gives us the ability to roll the $3.5 million dollar earmark into the one that we are doing so we can seamlessly administer the entire project.”

This agreement has been approved by the borough council.

“We appreciate all your hard work on this, it is not a small task,” Council President Eric Beiter said. “You have the experience to help push us along and the experience of dealing with it from a county perspective as well.”

Williams was the transportation planner with this county before accepting his city position.

South Williamsport Borough Manager Maria Maddy also recently told the Sun-Gazette in an interview upon the retirement of former borough manager Steven W. Cappelli, that the city and the borough were working on the levee project together with the city taking the lead but in a combined effort as it is a single levee system protecting the city, borough, Old Lycoming and Loyalsock townships.