Our officials need to take a hard look at where the extra rain water is coming from and mitigate it there, not just here. Upgrading our system is needed, but let's make sure that the improvements we put in place will handle the increased storm water our neighbors to the north will be "giving" us as a result of thier new developments.
It's funny how this information is not mentioned in the story below!
When it rains ... A river runs through it
By HILARY BENTMANThe Intelligencer
The sign warns motorists — “roadway subject to flooding” — but that doesn't begin to tell the story.
In the nine years Linda Bailey has lived on Norwyn Road in Upper Moreland, she has helped to rescue at least 10 people from cars trapped on her flooded street.
Bailey has endured 3-foot-deep sinkholes in her yard, and was preparing to spend about $13,000 to fix her eroded driveway, that is until the work the contractor had started was washed away by a fast-moving storm on Wednesday.
“I have a lake in my driveway,” Bailey said last week.
She is frustrated and so are her neighbors on Norwyn, Barbara and Shirley roads, who live in what locals call the panhandle of Upper Moreland — a thin sliver of the township nestled between Horsham and Hatboro.
For decades residents have endured flooding with little or no relief from the township or other agencies.
The flooding is a result of several factors, including a circa 1950s storm water system that is undersized and not adequate to handle the flow of water.
Some of the piping has also outlived its usefulness.
The panhandle sits in a valley, with runoff from surrounding areas gravitating toward the neighborhood. Any prolonged rain or heavy summer thunderstorm will flood the community.
“It's like a river running through my yard. I've had ducks swimming in the yard,” said Joan Cunicelli, a 48-year Shirley Road resident. “I've seen two of my neighbors take terrible falls trying to get to their cars on what they thought was level ground.”
To add to the problems, the sewer line that which runs parallel to the storm water line has been affected, and neighbors like Melody Latare have dealt with sewer backups in their homes.
“They have to do something or someone's going to die,” said Latare, who has lived on Shirley Road for four years.
But for the most part nothing has been done.
In 1983, the township's engineer, Chambers Associates, conducted a study of the area, identifying the problems, said Commissioner Kevin Spearing, who represents the neighborhood and on Wednesday could be found wading in waist-deep water.
Minor repairs have been made to the system over the years, but no long-term, effective measures have been taken.
The current board of commissioners is not sure why corrective action was never taken, but most suspect it came down to money. It could take millions to fix it.
“It was probably a matter of cost,” said township engineer John Chambers. “The pipe goes across private property and disturbance to the property owners was (probably going to be) significantly high.”
Spearing is hoping to secure money and help from Montgomery County's flood mitigation program, as well as work with the surrounding municipalities, the local sewer authority, and even the Pennypack Greenway Partnership, whose goal is to protect the Pennypack Creek, which runs through this area.
On June 2, Upper Moreland officials authorized Chambers Associates to examine the entire township, develop a cost estimate to fix all flooding areas and prioritize the work.
“The panhandle is not the only area on the list but it happens to be number one on the list,” said Commissioner President Stacey Efkowitz.
In the end it could cost millions and residents in the panhandle expressed disgust last week that the township is borrowing $5.38 million to be used, in part, to complete the War Memorial Park entrance. The money, they argue, should go toward helping them.
But the majority of the commissioners believe the money is needed to inject some life into the economically struggling Willow Grove section.
“It's not money for a park. It's money for downtown revitalization,” said Spearing. “It's a commitment from the municipality that shows we are serious about redevelopment, and it helps bring developers to Willow Grove.” Hilary Bentman can be reached at 215-345-3148 or hbentman@phillyBurbs.com.
2 comments:
I dont get that the commissioner for Ward 1, who touts that she is leading the charge for the upgrades to memorial park, like the granite curbs and lovely waterfountains, voted AGAINST the money that she pushed to borrow. I recall reading that she voted against it because the funding was above the money required for memorial park. So she isnt for public safety improvements just cosmetic improvements.
And one more questions, maybe someone out there can answer. She mentions several times that the money for the public safety upgrades for the PD were in the budget and wants to know where the money went... If the new video equipment in the commissioners room to televise the meetings wasnt in the budget - did she vote to spend the money to televise the meetings? Maybe that is where the money went, wouldnt she know that? hmmmm... perplexing.
If someone knows - please respond. If not - I may have to go back and review some old minutes.
Again, this is all Lisa Romaniello's fault? Indeed, this is more than just Upper Moreland's problem (as the blogger states). We need money from the county and from the townships upstream, who should be requiring developers to pay for storm-water management for their developments as well as those that plague the entire watershed downstream. The redevelopment of Willow Grove is a separately-funded and equally stalled project. Based on past disasters, I believe the flooding issue is one that needs to be addressed ASAP, but I fail to see how this can be twisted into how it's all one commissioner's fault because she voted to televise board meetings so that all residents have access to them?
As a side note, I have also had to rescue people from flooded cars near my neighborhood when I still lived with my parents (Pioneer & Byberry Rds) and again down the street from my sister's house (Yorks & Mill/Warminster Rds). As noted by the locations, this is a township-wide problem that can't be tackled by the board of commissioners alone. This is going to cost way more than the taxpayers of UM can afford.
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