First Posted: 6/3/2014
Much needed flood prevention work may soon be made around one or more creeks in Ransom and Newton townships.
Robert Doble, of Reilly Associates, Pittston, attended the June 2 Ransom Township Board of Supervisors meeting, held in the Mount Dewey Community Hall, to propose a project in the works by his company and Colwell-Naegele Associates, Clarks Summit. According to the proposal, the two firms will work with Ransom and Newton Townships to identify and fix extreme flooding problems in area creeks.
The total funding for the project, Doble said, is 500,000, or $250,000 for each township. Ransom and Newton townships, if approved for the project, will each be required to pay 15 percent of their half. The rest of the funds will come through the Commonwealth Finance Authority, which holds jurisdiction over the grant, a result of Act 13 (money generated through natural gas taxes).
“As you’re probably painfully aware,” Doble said at the beginning of his presentation, “there is very little funding for creek restoration [and] prevention of flooding historically, and it’s been a real problem around…rural areas, especially. Creeks get choked up and they may flood in different directions when we have heavy rain, and it causes a lot of damage.”
The engineer left a map of Newton and Ransom townships with the board, asking members to look it over and circle areas where they believe the risk of flooding and flood damage to be the worst within Ransom Township. He said he plans to bring the same map to Newton Township as well at its next meeting.
Board members said High Falls Creek is likely the most notorious problem causer, although they agreed there are several such areas in the township. They said they will research it before the next meeting July 7.
In other business, David Bird, road-master, gave the road report, stating he received core samples back from Evergreen Drive, and will put that project out to bid in the next couple of weeks. He also said the road crew recently began mowing, and anyone who notices places that are especially in need of mowing should contact the township office as soon as possible, so the workers can take care of it.
Chairman Dennis Macheska read an announcement from the agenda, stating, “The Township participated in PPL’s E Power Program to have the outdoor lighting at the township’s buildings and the Hickory Lane interior garage lighting upgraded to more energy efficient lights. The total cost of upgrading was $13,719.40. Because of PPL’s E Power Program, the Township’s cost was $13,496.59.”