The village's street reconstruction project will begin next year with Main Street - from River Street to Pine Boulevard.

The plan is designed to enable the board of trustees to maintain village's almost decade-long era of holding the tax rate steady.

Last month the board warned that taxes may rise with the beginning of the project, but Monday night they approved a recommendation from the streets committee that calls for a mix of financing that would minimize the impact on taxes.

Streets committee chairman Ed Tripp said the board could proceed with Main Street with no tax increase.

"It may cause a lean budget, but that's better than raising taxes," he said.

The project can, he said, be funded through the use of some or all of the money in a streets improvement reserve fund and from a budgetary surplus which at the end of the last fiscal year was close to $800,000. Some of the cost could also be borne by the general fund budget for next year.

Work on the sewer and water lines done in conjunction with the street work would be paid for through rates charged users rather than property taxes.

The recommendation adopted by the board Monday night authorizes hiring Lamont Engineers to produce detailed specifications for the Main Street project in preparation for the bid process.

In an effort to avoid repaving streets only to turn around and dig them up a short time later for sewer or water work, village officials are trying to coordinate activities. The result has been increased cost.

The proposed street work is an effort to solve some long-standing problems that patching can no longer fix and represents the beginning of what could be a 10-year program that would see all the streets in the village repaved. The program came out of an agreement by the trustees at budget time to spend surplus funds on street improvements rather than giving it back to taxpayers in the form of a tax cut.

Earlier this year, 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.

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

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 repaving the streets.

The streets initially targeted and the current cost estimate are: Main Street from Pine Blvd. to River Street, $536,000; Chestnut Street from Main Street to Glen Avenue, $442,000; Susquehanna Avenue from Elm Street to Susquehanna River, $523,000; Beaver Street from Susquehanna Avenue to Fair Street, $107,000; and Beaver Street from Susquehanna Avenue to Delaware Street, and Eagle Street south 200 feet, $198,000.