MANSFIELD – There have been multiple challenges facing the borough in recent months and the new year started off with one more — a broken water main on North Main Street on New Year’s Eve that required emergency repairs, according to safety committee chairman Will Schlosser.
The break happened as a result of a cold snap the week before and repair took from 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.. The repair will need hot mix installed in the spring.
According to Schlosser, the work was done by Lisowski Excavating and borough crew with assistance from PennDOT.
“Lisowski Excavating did a great job. The borough crews were in the water, PennDOT stayed the entire day handling traffic control, Mansfield Unversity was very supportive,” he said, adding that Blossburg and Wellsboro helped with parts. “It takes a village, right?”
There also was a boil water advisory immediately afterward, Schlosser said.
Mansfield borough also has several other projects on its plate including finding funding streams for its water mitigation project on the south end of town. The borough received news Friday, Jan. 13 that a Growing Greener $350,000 grant has been awarded by DEP to help fund that project.
“That area has flooded all the way back to the 1800s. So hopefully we are getting further along the line to not have that problem. It’s vital, that area has been beaten down repeatedly and we made that commitment. We knew it was going to be a long slog and we are still on it,” Schlosser said.
Finance committee chair Steve McCloskey told council that the St. James Street reconstruction project is also still at the top of the list.
McGann and McCloskey had a remote meeting with PennVEST Thursday, Jan. 12 and received an offer.
“We still have a commitment to the St. James Street project. Including infrastructure, it is a staggering amount of money, $4.3 million,” McCloskey said. That money will have to be paid back over 20 years.
The water mitigation for the flats area is $13.5 million, he added. “We are all in on that but obviously we cannot do that by ourselves,” he said. “We are working to find the money.”
In other business, council approved awarding the 3% raises for administrative personnel after the budget was passed in December without them because of a “misunderstanding,” personnel committee chairman Rob Fitzgerald said.
“Personnel went back to a meeting to arrive at a process acceptable to everyone. So now I am bringing it retroactive to Jan. 1 to deliver the raises as discussed. This does not change budget because the dollars were in there,” Fitzgerald said.
Council also approved a resolution allowing McGann to apply for grant funding in the amount of $11,120 with a match of $2,780 for a new ADA compliant pedestrian crossing signal at the downtown intersection.
“We are looking at the same as they have in Wellsboro, they talk to you,” he said.
Council also:
- Approved committee reassignments that move Schlosser from sewer to personnel, Adrienne McEvoy to chairman of personnel and Fitzgerald from personnel to chair of sewer.
- Appointed Bill David to fill the vacant alternate seat on the Zoning Hearing Board, and advertise to fill a vacancy on Mansfield Municipal Authority.
- Approved Jeff Loomis as borough solicitor with the same fee structure of a $750 retainer and $150/hour for work.
- Approved the Suez contract for sewer membranes and other support at $17,488.85 for 2023, an increase of nearly $700 from last year.
- Approved the purchase of a new snowplow at $6,500 to replace broken equipment.
