May 16, 2016: The saga of beautifying the Amtrak train trestle hit a delay after what appeared to be a significant victory in November.

A grassroots campaign led by resident Nora Pagel to re-paint the trestle culminated in Amtrak granting the borough approval to re-paint the hulking, soot-stained structure.

However, the process appears to be too expensive. Borough Administrator Jennifer Maier told me in a recent interview the re-painting process will require lead testing and scraping old paint, which would drive the total to around $60,000 “before a paint brush even touched the trestle.”

“It is crazy expensive for what we’re trying to accomplish,” Maier said.

Instead, the borough is looking into a potentially cheaper alternative: stringing a banner across the trestle. “I’ll have to work with Amtrak,” Maier said. The trick would be to install a banner so it doesn’t block the blinking lights on the trestle.

Pagel made a presentation before Council in January on re-painting the trestle, which she had researched for two years, she said at the time. She researched other towns that had done similar projects and worked with Amtrak to figure out how to get permission for the project. “I feel this project would be amazing for the town, it would uplift the downtown,” she said in January.

Maier said she would be talking with Amtrak so I’ll update as soon as I get word.