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Lycoming County faces a number of challenges -- and preventing floods and reducing the perception of flooding's risks for employers who want to either stay in central Lycoming County or relocate here must be near the top of the list of priorities.
So news in Monday's edition of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette that county commissioners, having consulted with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, are re-bidding to replace and rehabilitate relief wells is truly welcome.
We respect the hard work and collaboration of county, city and federal officials to address our levee system. It is difficult, multi-faceted work, with additional and unique obstacles. And it's important work -- as we noted in an editorial nearly one year ago, the levees protect about 45% of the county's workforce.
Part of the project seems fairly straightforward -- testing and perhaps making minor improvements to existing wells. But beyond that, new relief wells need constructed. The project faces an issue with finding people who have the necessary expertise. The construction of new wells, as Shannon Rossman of the county's Planning and Community Development Department noted, also is a rare approach in Pennsylvania.
As Rossman said, "we get to be the guinea pigs."
We all should be thankful that our leaders are willing to work together, to listen to experts and to try outside-the-box thinking and to be the proverbial "guinea pigs" to solve a vexing problem.