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Williamsport committee reviews environmental-review contract for Willow Street upgrades
Summary
City staff presented a resolution to contract with a review consultant to satisfy HUD environmental-review requirements for Willow Street improvements funded with CDBG money; members discussed scope, historic-resource review and routine HUD checklists. No formal vote was recorded in the transcript.
A resolution authorizing a professional and administrative services agreement to perform the HUD-required environmental review for the Willow Street improvements was presented Tuesday at the City of Williamsport Public Works Committee meeting.
The item, introduced by Valerie Bessler (Community and Development), would hire a consultant to complete the environmental review that HUD requires whenever Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) construction funds are used. "This is a easy and straightforward resolution," Bessler said.
The nut of the matter is procedural: HUD requires environmental reviews for CDBG-funded construction work, and the consultant checks for potential environmental constraints before the city proceeds with design and construction. Bill Scott, city engineer, described the scope in practical terms: "I mean, they look for environmental concerns, even, what's it called? Species, endangered species, things like that. Okay. Overall general scoping to make sure we're not hitting some rare endangered species, things like that, you know, old brownfield, nature." Committee members also noted the review looks for wetlands and other features that can appear on historical maps even if now buried or culverted.
Committee members asked about historic-property coordination. Bessler said consultations with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) occur when an environmental review turns up historic components: "The consultant with SHPO is a is something that we do whenever we have an environmental review Anytime that there's any type of historic component, so if they discover an environmental review process that is in a historic district or there's any type of historic component, then whoever is performing the environmental review, consults with SHPO to make sure that there aren't any additional historic concerns." Scott added that field work sometimes uncovers archaeological sites: "This comes up during bridge replacements a lot. You'll hit the arrow Indian arrowheads and, you know, old campsites and things like that. So yeah."
The staff presentation said the work will be performed under a professional services agreement with the named consultant (document text in the meeting packet referenced CITICOG/CITACOG and also included an apparently alternate name); the transcript identifies the action as contracting an environmental-review provider for the Willow Street project. The committee did not record a formal vote or motion in the transcript excerpt.
Members discussed the Willow Street project’s purpose in broad terms during the item: converting the corridor into a more pedestrian-oriented connector between the old city area and downtown, with beautification and pedestrian enhancements. Committee members asked clarifying questions about scope and likely environmental checkpoints, and staff emphasized that the environmental review is routine for any CDBG or HOME construction activity.
No formal action or vote was recorded in the provided transcript excerpt. If approved at a later step, the environmental review would be a prerequisite to final design and any construction funded by CDBG.
