Train station to get heating upgrade before winter

A historic train station in Jim Thorpe is getting a much needed heating upgrade.

On Thursday, the Carbon County Commissioners opened the sole bid for the boiler replacement project at the Old Mauch Chunk Train Station. The station houses a Mauch Chunk Trust branch, the Pocono Mountains Visitors Center and additional space for Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway.

Bognet Inc. of Hazleton submitted a bid of $144,900 for the project.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein said the price may seem high, but the scope of the work is more than just replacing the boiler, which is over 30 years old.

He said that the building has been experiencing mold issues as a result of pinhole leaks in the piping in the walls throughout the building and must be replaced.

The project will cover replacing piping in the building, adding more efficient radiators and a furnace.

“It’s not just a boiler replacement,” Nothstein said. “It’s a whole system replacement in the train station.”

The project costs will be covered by the county parking fund, which is generated through the parking fees in the county owned parking lot and meters.

The bid was tabled for two weeks to allow enough time for it to be reviewed by the necessary parties. It will either be awarded or rejected at the commissioners’ May 23 meeting.

In another building matter, Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard addressed the reason the county is not installing a bathroom inside the maintenance storage facility at the end of the parking lot.

Numerous questions from residents and commissioners candidates about why the building will not include water and bathroom facilities for the maintenance crews have been asked in recent weeks.

Gerhard said that the county obtained a UCC variance to eliminate the bathroom after looking at the work that would have been required to install water access at that location.

It would have included running hundreds of feet of piping, boring under the active train lines there to connect to the sewer system and cost over $300,000 above the cost for the project.

“That is why there is no sewer or water in the building,” Gerhard said, noting that the building will be for storing the county’s maintenance equipment.

To provide bathroom access, the county is putting a portable restroom near the building for the crew’s use.