Dickson City council was set to vote Tuesday night on an agreement for a road-widening project to accommodate a Wawa on Main Street as Moosic prepares for Wawa to replace a former warehouse on Birney Avenue.

Although no Wawas have opened yet in Lackawanna County, the popular Delaware County-based convenience store and gas station chain plans six locations across Scranton, the Upvalley, Midvalley, Downvalley and North Pocono.

Dickson City is the only community with two proposed Wawas, one off Cold Spring Road above Business Route 6  and a second at the former Lackawanna Executive Park on Main Street and Viewmont Drive, which crews recently demolished. During its meeting Tuesday night, Dickson City council will vote on an intergovernmental cooperation agreement and memorandum of understanding with Lackawanna County regarding the Main Street Wawa.

Moosic Mayor Bob Bennie said a project is underway in his town to demolish the Milazzo Industries Inc. warehouse at 4751 Birney Ave. and build a Wawa in its place.

“Demolition of the existing structure should be starting anytime now because I think they plan on being able to put a shovel in the ground in the springtime,” Bennie said.

In addition to the Dickson City and Moosic locations, Wawa plans to build stores in Carbondale Twp. at Meredith and Main streets across from an existing Sheetz; in Covington Twp. near Drinker Turnpike and Bochicchio Boulevard by North Pocono High School; and in South Scranton at Moosic Street and Meadow Avenue. Wawa already opened two locations in Luzerne County, first in Wilkes-Barre Twp. in December 2024 with a store on Route 309, followed by a grand opening last month at 2935 Tunkhannock Highway in Dallas Twp.

Both the Moosic and Dickson City projects will use grant funding for infrastructure upgrades. Jim Marzolino, the president of Kriger Construction, is managing the projects. Marzolino is the manager of Lackawanna Executive Park Dickson LLC, which is the company behind the Wawa on Main Street, as well as managing a project to develop the site pad for a Wawa along Cold Spring Road. He is also the governor of GLI Moosic LLC — the firm developing the Wawa in Moosic,  according to a Pennsylvania Department of State business registry. Marzolino is also involved with data center proposals in Archbald and Dickson City.

Last month, state Sen. Marty Flynn, D-22, Dunmore, announced $1.35 million in grants for the Dickson City and Moosic projects through the Commonwealth Financing Authority’s Multimodal Transportation Fund. The Dickson City project received $450,000 for road safety improvements at Main Street and Viewmont Drive, and the Moosic project received $900,000 for improvements at the intersection of Birney and Springbrook avenues to support local development of the Wawa. The Dickson City project also received $350,000 last year from the same fund for improvements at the intersection.

Work in Dickson City involves adding a new right-hand turning lane from Main Street onto Viewmont Drive, borough Manager Cesare Forconi said, explaining Dickson City does not own either road. Lackawanna County owns Main Street, and Philadelphia-based PREIT, the company that owns the Viewmont Mall, owns Viewmont Drive, he said.

Tuesday’s agreement relates to the grant funds and infrastructure work, he said.

“It basically says (the developer) is responsible,” Forconi said.

The five-page document provides an outline of funding and the process to expand Main Street and Viewmont Drive. The infrastructure upgrades will require the acquisition of 9,350 square feet of the Lackawanna Executive Park Dickson’s property, divided into 7,026 square feet on Main Street and 2,234 square feet on Viewmont Drive. The recent grant proceeds provide the money for Lackawanna County and PREIT to compensate the executive park for its land.

Lackawanna County will use eminent domain to condemn the 7,026 square feet of executive park land on Main Street, paying the firm $300,000 from Dickson City’s grant, and PREIT will give the executive park $100,000 from the grant to cover the Viewmont Drive expansion, according to the agreement.

The executive park will be solely responsible for constructing the Main Street turning lane, though the plans and specifications must be approved by the county in writing before construction can begin, according to the document.

If council approves the agreement Tuesday, it will include a caveat that it is contingent on approval from solicitor William Jones, according to the meeting agenda.

Forconi did not have a timeline for the work.

In Moosic, $900,000 will go toward widening Birney and Springbrook avenues for the Wawa, which will complement a state Department of Transportation project in the area, Bennie said.

The Wawa will replace the Milazzo Industries warehouse behind the now-closed Cucina Rinaldi restaurant, which will not be demolished, Bennie said. Pittston-based Milazzo Industries, best known for its Qik Joe Ice Melt, is transitioning its employees who worked in Moosic to other locations, he said.

“They’ve just been reducing their inventory so that when the demolition phase of this project comes about, the building will be empty,” he said.

Early timelines from the developer projected demolishing the warehouse in the winter and starting construction in the early-mid spring in hopes of opening by the end of 2026, Bennie said.

Wawa will enhance that section of the borough, and it ties into Moosic’s plans for a streetscape project to improve the 700 and 800 blocks of Main Street, he said.

“Wawa’s a great community partner. They’re coming in proposing a beautiful facility — it’s well thought out, it’s well planned, and obviously competition is good for the consumer,” Bennie said. “If I was given a choice between a Wawa and a warehouse, I’ll take a Wawa.”