Bellefonte officials are starting to look at alternate plans to pay for Lamb Street repairs because full funding from federal and state agencies might not be coming.
Borough Manager Ralph Stewart said that the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency needs proof that the storm drain under Lamb Street was damaged during the storms between June 26 and July 11, and crews have been unable to find a camera that will be able to photograph under the street.
He said they have tried three different providers, and none have been able to photograph the damaged storm drain.
“At this point, we’re expecting them to say, ‘We aren’t funding that part of the project,’ ” he said.
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The entire scope of the damage was estimated at about $250,000, and Stewart is still expecting PEMA to pay for the fix to the exterior of the road where the pavement rippled. Stewart said he is unsure how much of the total project cost is related to exterior fixes and how much relates to the damaged storm drain.
Borough officials will not receive a final decision until after next week’s deadline to submit the evidence. Stewart said the borough will begin exploring ways to pay for the additional fixes after the PEMA decision.
He said it likely would come out of the borough budget, including liquid fuel allocations and general street repair money.
The early summer storms caused about $1.8 million in damage to local infrastructure. The bulk of the destruction in Centre County occurred in Bellefonte, State College and Howard boroughs, and Liberty, Gregg and Howard townships.
Included in the report is about $1 million in damage to the SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority railroads.
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