The Finance Administration Committee on Aug. 21 approved scheduled bills totaling $1,009,633.72, including a $735,000 down payment recorded in the capital fund for the Amtrak bridge project, and authorized a resolution enabling staff to make construction payments on a rolling basis as reimbursements arrive. Treasurer (name not specified) told the committee the bridge construction costs are “100% federally funded” and that the borough functions as a pass-through for reimbursements.

The committee voted to approve the bills after staff explained the $735,000 payment is a deposit recorded in the capital account and is expected to be returned to the borough when the project is complete. The treasurer said the borough has finalized reimbursement requests and expects the federal reimbursement “sometime in the next couple of months before the end of the year.”

Committee members also approved Resolution 2025-18, authorizing staff to process construction payments as invoices arrive through PennDOT’s ECMS portal. Staff explained that PennDOT sends reimbursement checks after the borough authorizes invoices; the borough must then disburse funds to the contractor and the construction management firm, TPD (Transportation, Planning, Design), within a 10-calendar-day window to avoid jeopardizing federal funding. “We just need to pay them as they come otherwise we jeopardize our federal funding,” the treasurer said.

Chair Jim Spear moved the bills and the construction-payment resolution; the motions were seconded and the committee approved both items. Committee discussion noted that although many project costs are processed as reimbursements, the capital account will show the down-payment outflow until the federal payment is posted back to the borough’s account in later budget projections.

The committee was also told the bridge project will bill the borough twice monthly through ECMS and that staff will coordinate with the construction manager to clarify contingency and overrun responsibilities if the project experiences substantial cost increases. The treasurer said she would follow up with the construction manager to provide more details about how substantial overruns would be handled.

The committee’s actions were presented as operational steps to ensure timely payments and continued access to federal funds; no change to the borough’s financial commitment was adopted beyond approving the bills and authorizing rolling payments.