{"id":267144,"date":"2026-08-17T22:54:06","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T22:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/267144\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T22:54:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T22:54:06","slug":"stormwater-ems-improvements-highlight-scrantons-2027-capital-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/267144\/","title":{"rendered":"Stormwater, EMS improvements highlight Scranton’s 2027 Capital Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

SCRANTON \u2014 While standing on Frink Street Monday afternoon, Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti emphasized the importance of continuing stormwater management programs as part of\u00a0the city\u2019s 2027 Capital Budget with American Rescue Plan funds set to expire at the end of this year.<\/p>\n

The capital budget \u2014 which provides a five-year outlook \u2014 includes $41 million in planned spending to support state-of-the-art equipment for the Scranton Police Department, new Scranton Fire Department engines, Department of Public Works machinery, park improvements, stormwater mitigation projects, bridge replacement plans, and more, city officials said.<\/p>\n

The proposed capital spending plan, separate from the operating budget, was delivered to Scranton City Council before August 15 and it\u2019s expected to be introduced in September, officials said.<\/p>\n

The largest project proposed is the continued design and construction of stormwater management projects in Keyser Valley, totaling $5.65 million.<\/p>\n

\"Scranton<\/p>\n

Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti speaks at a construction site along Lindy Creek on the 2600-block of Frink Street in Scranton Monday, August 17, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A culvert is being constructed along Lindy Creek on the 2600-block of Frink Street in Scranton Monday, August 17, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Crews<\/p>\n

Crews from Montrose-based RHL Companies, Inc. work to construct a culvert at Lindy Creek on the 2600-block of Frink Street in Scranton Monday, August 17, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Workers<\/p>\n

Workers from RHL Companies, Inc. construct a culvert at Lindy Creek on the 2600-block of Frink Street in Scranton Monday, August 17, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Workers<\/p>\n

Workers from RHL Companies, Inc. construct a section of a culvert at Lindy Creek on the 2600-block of Frink Street in Scranton Monday, August 17, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 5<\/p>\n

Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti speaks at a construction site along Lindy Creek on the 2600-block of Frink Street in Scranton Monday, August 17, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAs we run out of the (American) Rescue Plan funding that\u2019s helped us jump start a lot of the work on stormwater and streetscapes, it shows how we propose to keep that work going with other funding,\u201d Cognetti said of the capital budget. \u201cAll these things are always a puzzle, but I\u2019ve been working really hard to put all these pieces together so the work doesn\u2019t stop. We\u2019re very proud of the work within the capital budget. When we started, it was just a wish list. Now it\u2019s something, if you\u2019re a taxpayer, you can look at and see how we\u2019re trying to continue the work.<\/p>\n

This September will mark the third anniversary of a 2023 flood that involved Lindy Creek on Frink Street and caused significant damage in both Keyser Valley and North Scranton.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree years ago, almost to the day, this (area) had flooded massively,\u201d Cognetti said. \u201cThere was almost a loss of life when the floodwaters came over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since August 2023, the city has advanced nearly two dozen stormwater and flood-mitigation projects throughout the city. The administration has committed nearly $23 million of the city\u2019s $68.7 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to such projects, including work underway or planned in Keyser Valley, North Scranton, Tripp Park, Minooka and East Mountain.<\/p>\n

The 2027 capital budget also includes a plan to support the operational readiness of the Scranton Fire Department and advance the City\u2019s objective of providing a fully integrated EMS system through the purchase of three used ambulances in 2027 for $190,000, city officials said. Purchases of new frontline ambulances are tentatively planned for 2029 and 2030, with a four-year replacement cycle included for each vehicle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very important to us that we\u2019re on a path to a hybrid of public and private options for ambulance in the city,\u201d Cognetti said. \u201cYou see successful stories in Wilkes-Barre and Reading. It\u2019s time to put this in the budget and try to get this funded. It\u2019s just like anything in the market, you want competition, you want a diversity of options.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scranton Fire Chief John Judge also feels adding city-funded and operated ambulances would be a valuable addition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a service that\u2019s going to save lives,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re here to make sure people can have emergency service at their doorstep very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SCRANTON \u2014 While standing on Frink Street Monday afternoon, Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti emphasized the importance of continuing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[201,182,139,28,178,180,179,181],"class_list":["post-267144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-stt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267144","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=267144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}