By JIM AUSTIN
Editor

The board of trustees is looking at the possibility of reconstructing more than a mile of busy village streets to solve some long-standing problems that patching can no longer fix.

The work represents the beginning of a 10-year program that would see all the streets in the village repaved, according to streets committee chairman Ed Tripp. The program, he said, came out of an agreement by the trustees to spend surplus funds on street improvements rather than giving it back to taxpayers in the form of a tax cut.

During the village board meeting Monday night, trustees approved hiring Lamont Engineers to assess the work necessary to bring the streets up to par and give the board an idea of how much it will cost.

Winter was hard of village streets this year and some of them are now so bad they can not be properly maintained, former streets committee chairman David Sanford told the board earlier this year.

Late last month Mayor Wendell Tripp, trustee Ed Tripp, streets superintendent Carter Coleman and D.P.W. coordinator Brian Clancy walked over village streets they believed needed repair with representatives from the engineering firm.

The streets being targeted include:

• Main Street from Pine Boulevard to River Street for a distance of 2,200 ft.;

• Chestnut Street from the intersection with Main Street to Glen Avenue;

ä Susquehanna Avenue from Elm Street to the Susquehanna River; and

• Beaver Street from Delaware Street to Fair Street.

Those streets, Ed Tripp said, represent a combination of the highest traffic areas and some of the worst surface conditions.

He explained that over time the streets had lost their crown, or high point in the middle which helps drain water off the surface to the curb area where it can be directed into catch basins or storm drains.

The agreement with Lamont Engineers calls for the development of a preliminary plan and detailed cost estimate.

The village and engineers anticipate the work will include selective curb replacement, handicap ramps for the sidewalk at street crossings, selective storm sewer and catch basin replacement, drainage improvement and milling and repaying the streets.

The preliminary plan and cost estimate is expected to total $4,200, according to Ed Tripp.

The board of trustees included $30,000 in the new budget for permanent street improvements, but also has money set aside in a separate special reserve fund for streets improvements. That reserve fund was expected to total approximately a quarter of a million dollars at the end of the last fiscal year on May 31.

And if that isn't enough to get the job done, the mayor and trustees could tap into an unappropriated surplus of more than $850,000.

During budget discussions this spring, Mayor Tripp mentioned the possibility more than once that the surplus funds could be used to pay for needed street improvements. "We have to take another close look at village streets," he said at the time.

As the village was poised to adopt this year's budget, trustee Stu Taugher proposed a tax rate cut to give back some of the surplus funds to village taxpayers.

Sanford disagreed with Taugher saying, "Stu's point is well taken, but I disagree."

The village streets and sidewalks need work and Sanford said he believed the surplus could be used to fix roadways which can no longer be simply repaired, but are in need of total rebuilding.

The remaining board members were all in agreement the money could be spent on street repairs and replacement.

"If you ask the citizens, I think they would rather see better streets and sidewalks," Lee Malone commented at the time.

Taugher said he would withdraw his motion to cut taxes if the board was going to follow through on its discussion and establish and put in motion a plan to make repairs to the streets.

Ed Tripp said he anticipates Lamont's preliminary plan and cost estimate would be ready this fall at which time the board will decide how to prioritize the streets. That decision will be heavily influenced by the cost estimate, he said. He expects work to begin next spring.