Times Observer file photo There is work ahead at the intersection of Market Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Warren, the site of the proposed roundabout.

The Warren City Council continues to wait for an answer from PennDOT regarding its letter asking that the project at the intersection of Market Street and Pennsylvania Avenue be stopped.

Two manholes need to be adjusted as part of the project, which PennDOT officials have reiterated for months is moving ahead.

As part of the project development, PennDOT has offered to cover the cost of labor to adjust those manholes if the city buys the materials.

Without a response to the letter in hand on Monday, action on an agreement that tabled, a move which could end up leaving the city on the hook for both the materials and labor.

Department of Public Works Director Mike Holtz said the agreement is “specific to the construction of the roundabout.” So if the roundabout doesn’t go through, the agreement is moot.

With a motion to approve on the table, Council member John Wortman quickly made a motion to postpone action.

“If the roundabout is not going to happen, this is null and void,” Council member Maurice Cashman emphasized. “Or are we just poking PennDOT in the eye?”

“PennDOT is currently in the process of repairing a response to the City of Warren,” Council member John Wortman said. He added “no additional action should be taken on the roundabout” until the response is received and council can consider its response to the letter.

If the labor costs were to fall to the city, the work would be completed by DPW crews over two to three days at a projected cost ranging from $1,000 to $2,000 or $3,000, according to city staff.

“I’ll tell you in years past we just do these agreements,” Holtz said.

Challenging the agreement is “something we don’t normally do,” he said. “The timing is funny” and the possibility exists, he said, that the funding could go away without council signing on.

“I would agree with Mr. Cashman,” Council member Wendy McCain said. “(We are) only going to do the manhole covers if we’re doing a roundabout. We’re not agreeing we want to move forward with the roundabout. (It) saves us a little later.”

Cashman called the agreement “sort of a win-win situation.”

Bids will be opened for the project on April 14 and Holtz said the agency “like(s) to have this paperwork signed and to bed before that date.”

Council considered a special meeting to discuss the issue once the response is received by the state.

“(There is) more than enough time to wait for a response,” John Wortman said. “I don’t see the harm in waiting…. We owe that to the people that we represent.”

Cashman stressed the city’s responsibility to “keep our costs down. The most prudent thing to do — and responsible — is to agree with this.”

“The timeline and the time pressure that we’re trying to generate here doesn’t exist,” Mayor Dave Wortman said. “There is not a reason to put an artificial timeline on this situation as opposed to waiting for a response back based on action this council took on a 5-2 vote.”

Executive Secretary Teena Leary asked whether PennDOT would need the agreement to include the labor in bid documents.

Holtz said Leary was right. “Things don’t normally happen in this fashion,” he said.

“The reason I think we should postpone that,” Council member Joe Michaels added, is “I don’t think think we should be acting without all the information available.”

The motion to table passed in a split 4-3 vote with John Wortman, Jared Villella, Joe Michaels and Mayor Wortman voting yes and McCain, Cashman and Phil Gilbert voting in opposition.