Council hedges on offering sewerage aid
CALIFORNIA- Mother Nature’s havoc of rainfall over the past few weeks has caused some problems for area residents. On Thursday, residents asked borough council for help in combatting the storm water runoff that has leaked into their homes, flooding basements and ruining carpets.
Council had been in executive session for over an hour at the beginning of the meeting discussing litigation concerning this very problem. Therefore, council members were somewhat mum about the issue and could offer little help.
Councilman John Greenlief said that the problem dates back many years when the sewerage pipework was put into place and smaller-diameter pipes were used instead of larger ones. He said the borough paid to have the problem fixed four years ago, but the problem still persists.
Solicitor Keith Melenyzer said that the state was going to have to bear some responsibility in resolving the issue. “To say the state has no responsibility in this is totally ridiculous,” Melenyzer said. “The state is going to have to take some of this water off us.”
Councilman Robert Sepesy suggested that the mayor could declare a state of emergency as the Brownsville Mayor Norma Ryan has done.
Melenyzer said that the damage in California would have to be widespread, such as in Brownsville, where roads and houses were lost.
“I am cautioning you that just because the mayor is authorized to declare an emergency doesn’t mean that you will be able to get grants and money; that’s not necessarily true,” Melenyzer said.
Because of possible litigation, council president Arthur Harris said that he couldn’t speak freely about how to resolve the storm water runoff problem, but he had an idea as to why it was happening.
“At this point in time, I can’ t say anything,” Harris said.
However, he said he is hoping the problem will be resolved within two months.