<\/p>\n
EXETER \u2014 Exeter officially launched its multi-million dollar sewer and stormwater rehabilitation project Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony outside the borough building.<\/p>\n
The $8 million project, about 6 years in the making, will replace aging, deteriorating sewer lines that separate the storm and sanitary sewer systems, reducing the risk of sewage backups, flooding, and environmental contamination.<\/p>\n
The project was awarded to Pioneer Construction, out of Honesdale, and will take 18 months to complete, culminating in a newly repaved Wyoming Avenue.<\/p>\n
Work will start on Wyoming Avenue, from Susquehanna Avenue to Erie Street, and along Schooley Avenue.<\/p>\n
Although the project\u2019s start was delayed several times due to weather challenges and supply chain issues, local officials seemed excited to finally break ground on the long-awaited sewer and stormwater upgrades.<\/p>\n
According to Council Chairman Joseph Pizano, the project was a collaborative effort between federal, state, and local leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs everyone knows, it takes a village to do something of this magnitude,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Officials who helped secure funding or offered support for the project included: Amy Huntington, Exeter Borough; State Rep. Brenda Pugh, R-Dallas Township; former State Rep. Aaron Kaufer; Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township; Mike Cabell, PA state director, USDA; Bob Morgan, former PA state director; U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Dallas Township; and former U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, most of whom attended the ribbon cutting Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The bulk of the project is funded through a $6.9M USDA Rural Development loan. Additionally, financing is provided by $969,000 in PA Department of Community & Economic Development LSA Grants.<\/p>\n
Pizano said the project will be focused on Wyoming Avenue-Schooley Avenue, or \u201cthe heart of the Exeter Borough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mike Amato, of Penn Eastern Engineers, said the project will include installing about 5,000 linear feet of PVC and 6,800 feet of polypropylene storm pipe, along with manholes and catch basins, to replace century-old terracotta pipes.<\/p>\n
Sen. Lisa Baker, who helped secure state funding for the sewer\/stormwater project, shared her own experience with costly sewer issues and why it\u2019s important to fund these types of projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs someone who has terracotta pipes that froze backed into the family room in my home \u2014 and I don\u2019t have central sewer, I have a septic system \u2014 it is difficult for families, communities, and businesses,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat you\u2019re doing is going to pave the way for progress in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Exeter Mayor Denis Adams said this \u201cmajor step forward\u201d is essential to protect homes and businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is about protecting our borough for generations to come,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The sanitary and storm sewer rehab project is part of a larger plan to revitalize the town center in the heart of the Borough. After updating the 2019 Exeter Borough Strategic Plan, the goals include applying for a Pennsylvania Main Streets designation, which helps open new funding opportunities for additional improvements, including new sidewalks, updated street lighting, and other town renovations.<\/p>\n
The public is encouraged to attend borough council meetings to receive updates on the project as it moves forward.<\/p>\n
Those meetings take place on the first Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. at the borough building, 1101 Wyoming Avenue, Exeter.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" EXETER \u2014 Exeter officially launched its multi-million dollar sewer and stormwater rehabilitation project Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":{"0":"post-119023","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scranton","8":"tag-scranton","9":"tag-scranton-headlines","10":"tag-scranton-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}