SHAMOKIN - The federal government will foot the bill to repair and restore the stone channel of Shamokin Creek.
The announcement was made Tuesday at a workshop session of city council, during which city officials sparred with a contractor over a $98,500 estimate for the demolition of a pair of dilapidated buildings on North Shamokin Street that collapsed last month.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved the city's funding request for the creek channel project, allocating $1,787,197 to preserve the channel as originally built in the 1930s as a project of Works Progress Administration.
The channel sustained heavy damage from September's historic flooding.
FEMA also approved $49,691.61 for the restoration of the parking lot at Third and Walnut streets, $7,595 for reimbursements to city fire companies for work during the flooding and $5,624.48 for building materials at the American Legion Building in the city's downtown.
The city had previously been reimbursed $41,000 for debris removal.
The project to repair the creek channel could last between two and three years, Steve Bartos, city clerk, said during Tuesday's workshop session of city council.
Michael Snyder, city councilman, asked about federal or state oversight of the spending of the grant funding. Bartos said a federal contracting officer would be required to approve any spending requests made by the city before the money is drawn down.
Council will be asked Monday to vote during its regular monthly meeting on the appointment of Mike Brinkash, city engineer, as the engineer of record for the project.
Brinkash addressed council Tuesday, explaining that engineering work will include surveying the project area, creating a map and schedule and finalizing bid specifications.
He said it could take months to finalize bid specifications.
Bartos recommended the city also contract with an environmental attorney and historic preservation specialist. Those fees and that for engineering work would be paid from administrative funding included in the federal grant.
In regard to the fire company reimbursements, Councilman William Milbrand suggested the city allocate $1,000 to each of the fire bureau's six fire companies and use the remaining $1,500 toward maintenance of emergency apparatus.
Demo spat
City officials have halted work at the site of a building collapse at 711-713 N. Shamokin St.
There is a dispute over what work the contractor, Bob Gusick, was specifically asked to perform, and the mayor is balking at the price.
Mayor George Rozinskie said the city and Gusick had a verbal agreement, and was backed up during the work session by councilman R. Craig Rhoades and city solicitor H. Robert Mattis when he said Gusick was asked only to knock the buildings into one another and into a pile on the property.
They said he was not asked to haul all of the debris away.
Gusick sees it differently.
He obliged their request by knocking down the buildings and also worked a full workweek hauling away debris, including bricks, by using 40-yard rollback containers.
Despite the officials' assertions, he hauled away the debris because he was never told not to, he said, leaving him wondering why no one had stopped him if he wasn't supposed to do so.
"I was there all week Monday through Friday loading out and nobody stopped me? I guess everybody was out of town," Gusick said. "If I would have been told just to push it in and let it there, I would have."
"That's exactly what you were told to do," Rhoades countered.
Rhoades was called to the scene in the days after the collapse by Police Chief Ed Griffiths while Gusick was removing debris from the sidewalk. Rhoades and Gusick subsequently spoke, and both acknowledged that the contractor was allowed to move forward with that specific removal so that he could get more room for heavy equipment needed for demolition.
While not siding with any one person, Rick Bozza, code officer, did say that in the conversations he was privy to between the contractor and city officials, "no one specifically told (Gusick) not to take anything out."
Gusick said the work is 75 percent complete. Since the project was halted, he said he'd consider pulling out his equipment from the work site.
He was asked by city officials to itemize the $98,500 estimate he provided the city on Monday, although he said he didn't feel an itemization was necessary.
Rhoades said the costs must be broken down in the event the city would use federal funding to cover the project, saying such specifics are required by the federal government.