City of Scranton Council Responses | April 14, 2026

Council President Tom Schuster asked the following question:

• May the city please advise update and timeline for the proposed Euclid Avenue at N Main Avenue one-way street change.
  • The one-way change is currently to accommodate construction.  PennDOT has requested and approved the change to be permanent.. It will allow drivers to enter Euclid from North Main Avenue. However, drivers will not be able to exit from Euclid onto North Main due to the change. Legislation will be forthcoming.
• Mr. Schuster expressed interest in the following pothole and pave cuts.
  • Mulberry and Mifflin – pave cut starting to cave in
    • Ben Reavy was notified
  • Jackson St and N. Main Ave at the manhole cover.
    • DPW is reaching out to PAWC to make them aware repairs are needed
  • Several on the 600 block of East Locust.
    • The potholes are a result of a failing pave cut

Councilman Sean McAndrew asked the following questions:

• Mr. McAndrew asked, on behalf of Scranton resident Mark Margavitch, the following:
  • Where in the rental registration ordinance is condemnation an accepted enforcement tool?
  • Is the city still citing rental registration violations through the quality-of-life ordinance?  Precisely No. 21 prohibited occupancy from QOL ordinance.
  • Is the city referencing correct rental ordinances when citing?  i.e. the old 2016 rental ordinance with anything prior to 2023 and the newer and current 2022 rental ordinance for 2023 and after.
  • Additionally, if question No. 1 answer is there was no authority to threaten condemnation in the ordinance, then please follow up with all parties who authorized such action.
    • The Council should be made aware that the rental registration questions raised by a resident at the April 7 meeting are the same as those currently being litigated by the law department and are pending in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania with said resident. Briefs have been submitted and the City is awaiting a decision from that Court. As this is currently under litigation, further comment would be unproductive at this time.
• Councilman McAndrew also inquired about the reason that the Mayor chose not to sign the ordinance overturning the HARB decision in regard to allowing Fidelity Bank to demolish the North Washington Avenue building?
  • Per Section 504 of the City’s Home Rule Charter, the Mayor has authority to sign, not sign, or veto all legislation upon final passage by City Council. In the event the Mayor vetoes legislation, he or she is required to provide City Council for her rationale for issuing such veto.
• Councilman Sean McAndrew has asked what the policy is related to DPW handing of potholes occurring on state roads or pave cuts created by the utilities in the city?
  • There is no official policy. As a general rule, DPW does not fill potholes on State routes or utility pave cuts unless we are trying to alleviate a dangerous situation.  On Thursday, April 9, the DPW Director instructed road crews to fill several potholes and small pave cuts along the Scranton Half Marathon route in an effort to render the route safe for the race participants. The City normally receives numerous claims after road race events due to prevailing road conditions.

Councilman Mark McAndrew asked the following:

• Mr. McAndrew thanked the city and city engineer for the quick action and placement of the loading zone at 417 Lackawanna Avenue. He asked if the administration may have DPW paint lineage for the loading zone as vehicles are encroaching on this new loading area.
  • DPW stands ready to paint these lines once we receive the specifications from the Engineer
• Councilman McAndrew asked if the city administration may provide a listing of streets required for paving by the various utilities doing projects in the city? Mr. McAndrew asked if the information may specify which streets will be paved curb-to-curb per agreements with the city.
  • Curb-to-Curb/ Full-Width Restoration
    • Required for all larger capital projects from utilities.
    • The standard requirement is a 10-foot buffer or “cutback” in each direction of a pave cut. E.G. The cut is 5 feet, the road should have 25 feet of paving.
    • 2025 – Permits began to be flagged on a case-by-case basis for paving.
    • 2026 – Curb-to-Curb is now a preliminary check before work commences. This also lets us filter and produce a list of cuts at the end of this year to better track this work occurring.
  • Required when:
    • The Road had previously been paved in the past 5 years
    • Two or more openings in the road within 100 feet
    • Trenching
    • Significant section of older road is disturbed
  • Road Listing
    • Lists are maintained typically via map when available. The water company is the primary utility performing any final paving.
    • Sections of the following streets have been or will be paved curb-to-curb as part of capital water projects in the City.

• • From the ongoing 2025 permit closeout, 53 permits requiring curb-to-curb/ full width paving have been identified. This doesn’t include other permits that have already received full-width paving.
  • 16 permits have already been flagged for curb-to-curb with the new preliminary check. When we have to close 2026 permits, we can produce an immediate list with every single permit flagged for curb-to-curb.
• Mr. McAndrew asked if the city and city engineer may advise a status on the streetlight request on Round Wood Place in West Scranton.
  • The city engineer recommends that a streetlight be added to the pole along Roundwood Place at the rear of 1113 Dartmouth Street. The utility poles along Roundwood Place are spaced at approximately 100 ft.  All of the other poles on Roundwood Place except the one at the rear of 1112 Dartmouth Street have streetlights. This lack of a streetlight in this location creates a relative dark area and the current lack of lighting uniformity is not consistent with street lighting standards.

Council asked several questions of DPW at the April 7 caucus:

• What is the capacity of the new garbage truck?
  • The new garbage truck has a payload capacity of 25 yards.
• What were the overtime costs associated for moving the snow along Parker Street to Southside?
  • Overtime cost: $2,550.60
• What was the straight time cost associated with moving snow away from the South Side Levee?
  • $635.65

City of Scranton Council Responses – April 14, 2026 | PDF

Last modified: April 14, 2026