PECO To Brief Public, Businesses On Gas Main Project In Newtown Borough

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, PA — PECO has scheduled a special meeting for Wednesday, June 18 to brief borough residents and business owners on a planned gas main replacement project scheduled for this summer in the borough's southern end.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at the Chancellor Center at 30 North Chancellor Street in Newtown Borough. During the meeting, PECO officials are expected to outline the project, provide estimated timelines, and answer questions.

The project will be investing $1.7 million in Newtown Borough and a small section of Newtown Township as part of the company's efforts to upgrade its natural gas distribution system.

"The project is critical to meeting the growing need and demand for safe, reliable, affordable natural gas for our customers in Newtown Borough and Newtown Township," said the utility.

The project area will include:

• Centre Avenue between Newtown Creek and South State Street.
• South State Street between Centre Avenue and Freedom Drive/Fountain Farm Lane.
• Penn Street between South State Street and South Chancellor Street.

At the May borough council meeting, business owners voiced concern over the project's impact on vehicle and foot traffic and requested a meeting with the utility.

Kristofer Kwant, the majority owner of Triple Sun at 126 South State Street, read from a letter “expressing serious concerns” regarding road closures and pedestrian access to his business.

“Without access, there is no foot traffic and without foot traffic there is no revenue. And without revenue I cannot meet my obligations. This has the very real potential of bankrupting my business," said Kwant.

Asharo Shapiro, who operates an art gallery on South State Street and who depends on foot traffic, expressed similar concerns. She asked for clear communication from the borough about when and where work would be taking place so she can pass it on to her patrons.

“I have workshops all the time and if the sidewalks are closed off I need ample time to communicate that,” she said.

Kathleen McCafferty, who owns the ProShop, expressed concern that the construction work could negatively impact her business. “It doesn’t seem like a long time, but for small businesses, it’s a huge amount of time. Is there a way to delay this for a year? Then we would have time to plan, to cut back on our inventory. We didn’t plan for this. Maybe we can pause it,” she said.

After listening to their concerns, the council agreed to reach out to PECO to see if a meeting could be scheduled.