Lansford Borough wants to get to the bottom of sinkholes along the 300 block of Patterson Street.

The state Department of Transportation notified the borough about the sinkholes in September — about a month after the borough fixed another sinkhole in the 400 block of Patterson, which is state Route 209.

Borough council on Tuesday discussed sending a camera through its sewer tunnel under the highway from Tunnel Street to the area of the last depression and hole in the road near Kennedy Park.

Councilman Joe Butrie said they want to get a look at the condition of the tunnel to see whether or not it’s to blame for the holes opening in the road.

The borough spent around $1,800 last summer to send a camera into the same tunnel near the park, Council President Bruce Markovich said.

“PennDOT tried to say that those sinkholes in the 400 block of West Patterson were the result of our sewer tunnel collapsing,” he said. “Of course, the tunnel is in great shape.”

Again, PennDOT is blaming the borough’s utilities or sewers for the sinkholes opening in another section of the highway, Markovich said.

“We have to get a camera so that we can tell them there’s nothing wrong with our sewer tunnel. It’s not our fault,” he said. “Hopefully, we can try to get them to do something.

“It’s highly unlikely, but we have to at least cross that off the list so they can’t say it’s your sewer tunnel causing the issues,” Markovich said.

The borough did temporarily fix the holes, dumping bags of concrete to fill the void, he said. Butrie said they dumped 10 five-gallon buckets of stone, three buckets of cement and place cold patch on top.

“And it’s sinking again,” Butrie said.

PennDOT needs to fix the problem, Markovich said.

“They have to do something with it,” he said. “It’s their road.”

Resident Lenny Kovach suggested they try to work with the department’s inspector and engineer and show them photographs of the deteriorating concrete under the asphalt.

Working with the department on a solution might yield better results than seeking the help of area politicians or the media, he said.

“You’re never going to beat them. You got to work with them,” Kovach said.

Butrie thanked him for the input.

Sewer project update

Council members will also be asking the Coaldale Lansford Summit Hill Sewer Authority for an update on sewer projects.

Councilwoman Michele Bartek said the sewer upgrade was discussed at a recent community meeting in Coaldale, and the public should be updated.

Markovich didn’t think they should be discussing the authority’s project at a meeting, but they could invite a representative to talk about what is going on.

Councilwoman Gwyneth Collevechio asked about the borough getting minutes from the water authority, and Markovich pointed out they should get minutes from the water and sewer authorities.