Lycoming County commissioners considered a sealed-bid engineering agreement with Larson Design Group to perform preliminary engineering for the Lashi Run culvert replacement in Jersey Shore Borough, a project staff said will replace about 1,100 feet of failing culvert beneath Allegheny Street.

John, a Lycoming County staff member, told commissioners the contract price is approximately $733,000 for an engineering scope that includes 25 tasks and will likely take about two years to complete. “We need to get to the preliminary engineering out of the way, get the environmental permits taken care of before we’re looked at as shovel ready,” John said.

The work is intended to prepare the project for larger construction funding. County staff estimated construction would be roughly $10,000,000. John said the contract and engineering phase were chosen to make the project more competitive for federal Department of Transportation grants and to establish the environmental and permitting work needed before construction funding can be pursued.

County staff outlined the planned alignment changes for the new structure and said replacing the culvert in its present location would require extensive dewatering and could disturb nearby foundations and utilities. John described the existing condition: “There are cracks where you can see down into the culvert from where you park that car,” referencing the area near a Minuteman gas station and the street-front properties on Allegheny Street.

Officials described funding already identified to reduce the county’s share of the engineering cost: Jersey Shore Borough secured an LSA grant of $150,000, staff said, and the county has about $450,000 in grant funding committed for preliminary work. Commissioners were also told there is roughly $1 million budgeted from Act 13 funds toward design or construction of the project. John said county staff will prioritize available grant sources first and later explore tax-increment financing (TIF) through the NPO to supplement funding.

John said the decision to seek engineering first followed earlier unsuccessful attempts to secure federal construction funding. He said the engineering contract was procured through PennDOT-aligned sealed processes (ECMS) to align with state contracting and future grant requirements.

Commissioners asked about schedule and budget oversight; staff said the work is on a timeline that would identify construction-ready designs in roughly two years and that the county intends to pursue multiple grant sources for construction. John estimated the engineering effort will position the county to apply for DOT construction grants once the project is shovel-ready.

A motion to accept the Larson Design Group agreement was made during the meeting and commissioners proceeded to the next agenda items.

The county will next seek to finalize the engineering contract and begin preliminary design, environmental studies and permitting work that staff say are prerequisites to applying for federal construction funds.