City falls short of $5M goal for Grafius Run
Despite early optimism, the Grafius Run flood damage estimate survey process is lagging in returns.
That could spell trouble for a city trying to get the state Department of Environmental Protection to build a flood-mitigation project, according to discussion Tuesday at City Council’s public works committee.
So far, $1.8 million in damage has been reported from surveys of 33 residences out of a possible 269, according to Mark Benner, city engineer-in-training who gave City Council’s public works committee a status update.
That is $1.5 million from the residences survey and another $300,000 in prior city streets and parks department surveys.
The goal, however, is to shoot for $5 million in damages in order to have a good chance at the department taking over and constructing a flood-mitigation project on Grafius Run watershed, said Jason Fitzgerald, president of Penn Strategies, the city economic development consulting firm.
It means the city has a $3.5 million shortfall in the amount of damages covering the past 10 years caused by the Grafius Run floods, according to the officials.
Some of the residents Benner said he visited are starting to complain that yet another study and expense isn’t going to solve the long-term problem.
Grafius Run has notoriously caused damage over the years, mostly from street flooding, especially when debris is jammed at the entrances to where it goes underground. The older pipes also leak and lead to groundwater seepage getting into nearby residences.
More housing developments, particularly those in neighboring Loyalsock Township, also contribute to the higher volume of water, Fitzgerald said.
Those on the committee urged the public to take notice.
Additional explanatory letters and surveys are going to be sent out with city letterhead to alert people about the need to get the accurate estimate in damage to the department and to go after capital projects funding that may be available in the governor’s budget, Fitzgerald said.