A lack of funds will limit street paving work in Kane this summer.

Under a formula based on road mileage and population, Kane this year is expected to receive $94,946 as its share of the state tax on liquid fuels.

The borough already is committed to use $17,000 from the state funds as an annual payment for a new truck in the streets department. The borough also uses the state funds to purchase salt and anti-skid materials for winter road maintenance.

Kane Borough Manager Patrick Nuzzo said Wednesday that the borough should have about $61,000 left in state funds to earmark for street paving.

Nuzzo said preliminary plans call for paving work on Tionesta Avenue and Wetmore Avenue.

He said the borough is hoping to complete paving work on Tionesta Avenue from Poplar Street to Pine Street. The borough last year paved Tionesta from Oak Street to Poplar Street.

Nuzzo said the borough also is planning to pave Wetmore Avenue from the parking lot at Kane Screen to Holman Street near the Kane Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) building. The borough last year paved Wetmore between Poplar Street and the parking lot at Kane Screen.

Nuzzo said a "cost estimate" for Kane's summer paving project is being developed by Shawn Agosti, a representative of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT).

Nuzzo said the Kane Borough Council may vote May 12 to seek bids for paving. He said the paving contract may be awarded in June. The chosen contractor will complete the Kane paving work sometime over a three-month period.

Nuzzo said the lack of funds for street paving in Kane is "very frustrating." "We're patching potholes right now," he said. "We can't do more."

The borough council discussed street work at its meeting earlier this week.

Councilman Dennis Drost said the borough streets are in "bad shape." "If we don't do something pretty soon, we won't have any streets to fix," he said.

Councilman Jim Salvamoser said the borough "can't sustain" its 16-mile network of streets when it receives less than $100,000 a year from its share of state taxes on fuels. He said the increase in oil prices also is rising the cost of blacktop.

"It's a tough situation," he said.

Nuzzo said the price of oil "is going through the sky."

Salvamoser said the borough should consider a plan to "start on a street and patch every hole." He said the borough now tends to patch potholes "where people do the most whining."

"If we don't have the money to pave, we've got to take care of the potholes," Councilman John Gentilman said.

Nuzzo is hoping cost estimates from PennDOT will show that Kane can complete paving projects on Tionesta and Wetmore Avenues. But there also is a chance that the cost may force council to choose to pave only one street this year and not the other.

Mayor Doug Caldwell said the borough once had a five-year plan for paving streets. But, as Nuzzo pointed out, "we have no plan now because we have no money."

There have been suggestions to borrow money to pave streets and pay back the loan over a period of time. But this action may require council to consider a tax increase.