for Highway maintenance, he says that it is largely managed by PennDOT. “They’re doing okay,” he affirms. “Right now they’re doing a lot of tarring and chipping, which there’s controversy over, but it extends the life of the road dramatically. And it’s a fraction of the cost of paving.” The county also benefits from gas related revenue through Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale impact fees, meant to help with road repairs resulting from the use of heavy equipment. “All of our townships and the county itself get funds from Marcellus Shale,” Wilbur outlines.“The majority of the funds are based on how many wells they drill and the production out of those wells. So the rural counties are getting extra money and that can be used on our roads. We have wells in Wyoming County. We aren’t the biggest producer in Pennsylvania, but we do okay.” Current housing developments are aligned with INFRASTRUCTURE AND GROWTH In Wyoming County, infrastructure remains both a challenge and a focus.“We have a number of small municipalities, and they don’t have centralized sewer and water,” Wilbur acknowledges. “That is an impediment to bringing in economic development. The areas where that’s available are not nonexistent, but not nearly as much as we need it to be. We’re blessed to have gas, that’s a good thing.” He notes that the communities of Factoryville and Tunkhannock do have municipal water and sewer service, and there are some private systems in Mehoopany. The county’s bridges are in good shape, thanks in part to infrastructure funding and careful stewardship. “We have one that we’re replacing and one that we’re going to be doing a major repair on, but most are owned by municipalities,” Wilbur says. “They’ve received a lot of money from the infrastructure program that came through, and that’s helped.” As 219 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 11 WYOMING COUNTY, PA
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