The City of Scranton plans to search for funding to help downtown businesses and residents who were impacted by two breaks in a water main in just 10 days.
Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti said the city will also push Pennsylvania American Water, which owns the 140-year-old 24-inch water main, to replace it as soon as possible.
“We clearly see that this is an issue, and I know we're all worried that this could happen again,” she said.
Cognetti was joined by all five members of Scranton City Council, business representatives and other city officials in the governor’s room in City Hall. They addressed what action the city is taking to help and how residents can help out those impacted by the breaks.
"We want to see relief for our businesses and our residents downtown, and we want to prioritize these projects that PA American Water is doing,” council President Tom Schuster said.
About 770 customers are still under a boil advisory, according to Pennsylvania American Water.
Exploring relief
The first break happened at the intersection of North Washington Avenue and Mulberry Street near Scranton’s City Hall on July 17. Along with the downtown residents and businesses, both City Hall and the Lackawanna County Government Center were without water and shut down. The second break happened Monday on Washington Avenue between the Lackawanna County Courthouse and the federal courthouse. Again, people and places were without water.
Pennsylvania American Water (PAW) crews responded to both breaks immediately. The July 17 break took the weekend to repair. Monday’s break was fixed by Tuesday morning, and the road was paved and opened back up.
Cognetti encourages PAW customers to fill out the water company’s personal and property damage online form.
But she warned that the water company told the city that they do not generally cover the type of losses from the two breaks.
Cognetti said the city has been in touch with the Pennsylvania Department of Economic Development (DCED) and state Rep. Kyle Donahue, whose district includes the downtown, and Governor Josh Shapiro’s office.
"We've been exploring some … sort of relief. Is there something with the Public Utility Commission that we could do? We're looking at a lot of things,” she said.
City Council Vice President Patrick Flynn wants the water company to reimburse the businesses for revenue losses.
"I don't know if that's viable, but I think it's a question that we should be asking on behalf of our businesses who are so negatively impacted by this," he said.
Cognetti said the city hopes to offer some relief in case insurance or the water company does not cover economic losses for businesses.
But in order to secure any funds, whether that be a state grant or another program, Cognetti asks that impacted businesses and residents fill out a form that will be available on the city’s website on Wednesday.
"That will collect some of the data points that will make it easier for places like DCED, ourselves and others to understand the scope of the loss, the scope of that economic damage, and see what we might be able to do," she said.
The city does not have money available for incidents, like the water main break, she said.
Just like the COVID-19 pandemic and deadly flooding in the city in 2023, Cognetti said: "We are building the plane as we fly it.”
“But I think that we have shown in our nearly seven years here that we are agile, we're creative, and we will figure out a way with our partners that you see here to help folks as best we can,” she said.
City wants line replacement prioritized
Cognetti said the city has been in contact with Pennsylvania American Water’s senior leadership to make sure they prioritize replacing the downtown water main.
"Scranton cannot sustain water mains that are 140 years old. We are willing to work with them, but we need to make sure that they're doing their job too,” she said
The city does its best to line up its projects with Pennsylvania American Water’s to reduce distributions in Scranton, she said.
"They're always changing … what they're doing and what their plans are. I can't speak for them, so I don't know exactly when those larger mains would be teed up, but it's very clear that those projects need to be bumped all the way to the top," she said.
Cogentti said the water main that broke twice runs from Ash Street to Lackawanna Avenue, which is just over a mile.
"I understand that is a very big project, but clearly we cannot sustain this type of disruption again," she said.
She added that water customers in Scranton also cannot sustain another rate increase from PAW.
"We have folks making money in some other state in a corporate boardroom when we are sustaining losses and people's business hours aren't open, and people can't brush their teeth and take a shower before work," she said of the water company's executives.
Call to support downtown businesses
Bob Durkin, president and CEO of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, had a simple message. He wants residents to remember the downtown businesses.
"They're your friends. They're your neighbors, right? These are folks who try to make a strong living here in Scranton and Lackawanna County. Let's do them a favor. Let's recognize what they've gone through,” he said. “Please come down here, go in and spend some dollars there. Let these people know that you care about them, that you care about the economic strength of downtown Scranton.”
Flynn pointed out that Zummo's Cafe in Green Ridge is donating all the sales from its speciality Iced Mocha Lattes to Northern Light Espresso Bar in downtown Scranton.
"Our businesses stand up for one another. Our community stands up for each other, and that is one of the greatest parts of who Scranton is," he said.
