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The city finance director is supportive of a transfer of stormwater systems to Williamsport Sanitary Authority.
The upgrades are needed to satisfy permit requirements and mandates put on the city by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, said William E. Nichols Jr., city finance director and general manager of River Valley Transit.
The city capital projects budget has $135,000 toward that end and is hoping to transfer the management services to the authority, Nichols said.
From that authority, a fee structure could be better established to pay for the necessary upgrades of the stormwater system, Nichols said.
Currently, the authority is continuing to mull over whether it will accept the transfer of the stormwater system from the city.
The city also is working with the state Department of Environmental Protection on the flood mitigation of Grafius Run.
The city has budgeted $4.3 million for flood mitigation of Grafius Run, however, that budget figure is higher than expected because of the previous engineering design plan, he said.
Instead, the city is working with the state on a joint flood-mitigation study, hoping to join with neighboring Loyalsock Township, with the potential project meant to reduce significantly the recurring flooding, Nichols said.
The city has budgeted $11.5 million for the levee improvements over six years and that will not stop toward the progress of getting the levee recertified so that those protected by it don't pay flood insurance, he said.
The certification is due to new standards following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The levees built by the Army Corps of Engineers must follow these standards under regulations imposed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The levee must be raised in height and fortified with a stronger and more flexible beam in the concrete wall at the Lycoming Creek side. It also must have relief wells and cross pipe repairs made, according to engineer assessments.
The county has joined forces with the city and three municipalities affected by the protection of the levee system to find funding for the remainder of the repairs necessary, Nichols said.