Grant may help cover cost of trash racks at Grafius Run

A Williamsport-hired consulting firm is looking for funding opportunities for a project to mitigate flooding of Grafius Run that focuses on removing trash and debris automatically.

A Building Resilient Infrastructure and Anchor Communities grant, which typically is available in August each year, will address climate-change-related issues, said Andrew J. Garfinkel, of Keller Partners & Co., of Washington, D.C., and vice president and managing director of grants, at the firm.

Specifically, the firm is working with Jon Sander, city engineer, to identify potential projects.

One is a movable trash rack system. The automated trash racks take some of the trash and prevent damming of water that spills onto the street and gets into basements, runs by parked cars and enters via channels and underground into structures. The trash racks are estimated at $2.4 million.

The system works by automatically sensing when the debris needs to be moved up into a collection bin for removal.

Williamsport Public Works Department personnel (Streets and Parks) also respond when the stream is near flood stage or flooding onto streets.