It’s been over three years since the City of Warren approved a maintenance agreement for the future care of a roundabout at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Market Street.

Members of Warren City Council wanted a signed copy back from PennDOT.

But PennDOT lost the agreement the city had approved.

Jill Harry, PennDOT press officer, called the situation with the maintenance agreement a “unique circumstance.”

The document outlines who is responsible for what once a project is completed and Harry said it is a “standard” part of a project.

Procedurally, she said the agreement is reviewed by district staff and then forward to the Harrisburg office.

“That was done,” she said, and the agreement “was fully executed…. Somehow it had been misplaced.”

In the three years since council approved the agreement, the state changed some of the language to the agreement.

That means the agreement has to go back before city council.

Harry stressed that the agreement is not necessary for the roundabout to be built but would impact the design of the center island where what is placed there would be something that local PennDOT crews would have the capacity to maintain.

Mayor Dave Wortman told the Times Observer that the city has not yet received a new agreement from PennDOT.

“However, in the event that a new agreement is sent,” he said, “it will absolutely go in front of council to be properly analyzed and debated. Any proposed subsequent action will then be voted on.”

“It’s apparent to me that the Department of Transportation isn’t concerned with the opinions of the residents of Warren expressed through this Council,” Wortman continued. “This is just another example of PennDOT doing what they want “at their intersection” and passing us the maintenance bill for a project our citizens don’t want.

“It’s crazy, aside from PennDOT and the 4 people that voted for this, I’ve met maybe 2 others that support this project.”

During Monday’s council meeting, Wortman announced that an executive session was held on March 16 “to discuss legal matters pertaining to ongoing roundabout concerns.”

He cited as justification for the session the element of the state’s open meetings law that permits closed-door sessions for “consulting with an attorney about active or pending litigation.

Wortman didn’t directly address questions regarding potential litigation.

“As this situation with the Maintenance Agreement demonstrates there continues to be very significant gaps with this project,” he said. “The lack of final designs and cost estimates along with the Maintenance Agreement are big issues. This will again be on the Council agenda in April.”