Jim Thorpe stormwater plans advance

Money is in place for a stormwater project in Jim Thorpe Borough, the only question is whether the cash will come from a grant or the municipality’s coffers.

Council opened bids for stormwater improvements to the rear of Memorial Hall in September, but both were too expensive for its liking at the time.

Borough Manager Maureen Sterner said the municipality followed that up by applying for a set-aside grant.

“We’re expecting to hear back on that any day now,” Sterner said during a council workshop last Thursday.

In the meantime, the borough began setting budget money aside for the work.

Money in the 2017 budget wasn’t used for the project so it was moved to the capital project fund. More funds were allocated to the project in the 2018 budget.

“We’re still hoping for the grant, but if it doesn’t work out, the funds are in place to update the project specifications and rebid the work,” Sterner said.

Two bidders submitted prices for the stormwater work in September, with the lowest coming in at $237,850 from RGC Development of Bath.

The bid was 44 percent higher than the latest engineer’s estimate of $165,000.

The project includes installation of a detention basin to the rear of Memorial Hall. A permanent drainage swale would be constructed down the embankment to Germantown Road.

Hazleton Site Contractors was the second bidder at $426,974.

Matt Boggs of Entech Engineering told council Thursday he would plan to take a different approach to the bidding process this time.

“Our plan would be to use PennBid, which is a program that casts a wider net for contractors,” Boggs said. “It would hopefully get more people interested and they may be from Pittsburgh or Harrisburg or elsewhere in the state.”