Jul 10, 2014 By Terry Kish 5 min read

Residents packed the Scott Township Commissioners’ July 8 workshop meeting, detailing flooding problems after recent heavy rains.

Some residents, like Madeline Paul of Orchard Spring Road, had problems with water from the sanitary sewers in their homes. Paul said that she had been in her home for 56 years and had been flooded nine times, twice with sewage. She said she had about three and a half feet of sewage water in her home after the most recent storms.

“My car was jammed in my garage and I lost everything,” Paul said. “I love my home, but I’m a little old to be handling this situation.”

“We have an obligation to correct this deficiency,” said board president David Jason. “This has to be fixed.”

Betty Ritson, a 42 year resident of Rockhill Road, said that this year she had more than a foot of sewage water in her home, and last summer had more than 18 inches. Ritson said this has been an ongoing problem in her neighborhood.

Township engineer Larry Lennon said that in the 1990s, a plan for a new sanitary sewer system with new private laterals was proposed for Ritson’s neighborhood. The project cost then was estimated at around $5 million, and the average cost for homeowners to replace their private lateral was estimated at around $3,500.

Jason suggested that residents investigate if they could use a backflow preventer to keep sewage out of their homes. Commissioner Craig Stephens, a neighbor of Paul who also experienced flooding issues, said, “That’s the route I’m going.”

Other residents had problems with storm water. Beth Tomasovic of Berkwood Drive has been in her home for four years and has been flooded for the second time in less than a year. She recently replaced the car she lost during the first flood, only to lose the new car during the most recent storms. Instead of going on a planned vacation, Tomasovic had to spend her time off cleaning her house. In addition to losing her vacation money, she had the added expense of having to rent dehumidifiers and fans. Tomasovic said she has since hired two engineers to see if they can come up with a way to prevent her home from being flooded in the future.

Tomasovic reminded the board that she had come to them in the past because her neighbors were adding more drains and structures to their homes that diverted water onto her property.

Jason said that the cost to fix the problem would be around $1.4 million. “We might have to look at purchasing your home,” he said.

“I need something done,” Tomasovic said. “I’m willing to sell my house because I can’t deal with a flood every year.”

Abagail Pagliai of Scrubgrass Road said they haven’t recovered from when their home was flooded with over six feet of water in July 2013. They’ve been gradually making repairs, but in June, their home was hit again with more than four feet of water. According to Pagliai, water comes down the hill from property owned by Scott Conservancy, onto her neighbors property, and then onto their property.

Pagliai said they have flood insurance, but had to wait until July 10 for FEMA to come to investigate. In the meantime, there are inches of mud and mulch through the house.

“Even though we have flood insurance, it doesn’t cover everything,” Pagliai said. “Our home is not livable and it’s not sellable. We need help. Buy our house and let it flood.”

Residents from newer neighborhoods in Scott were not immune from the flooding. Vince Fera of Pine Trees Drive has lived in his home for 12 years, but has been flooded three times in two years, twice in less than a year.

Fera told the board that the last rain was the worst, affecting neighbors on both sides of him and across the street. He said they had spent about $20,000 to attempt to fix the problem, but most of the corrections have been lost.

“The drainage system is not doing what it once did,” Fera said. “The water is flowing so fast that it has created a channel.”

Jason said the pipe about Fera’s property is overloaded and they have to figure a way to capture the water up on the hill.

Commissioner Bill Wells said he was on the planning commission when the housing plan was proposed and there was a honeycomb riprap system for storm water. He thought the system might not be working anymore and thought it would not be an expensive repair, most likely under $100,000. Wells suggested that money for the repair could come from excess from the municipality’s road program, which was under budget, and from a FEMA grant for work the township had done during the July 2013 storms.

Jason commented that the township had to identify the areas that needed corrective action, identify funding sources for correction, and try to knock off the most pressing items.

After listening to numerous complaints, Wells said that everyone in the municipality has some responsibility for storm water runoff and suggested the board consider a storm sewer tax to repair some of these items.

“It’s not fair to these people,” Wells said. “No one should live like this.”

In other business:

• District magistrate Gary Zyra was there for the swearing in of Daniel Walker as Scott Police sergeant. Sgt. Walker has been with the Scott Police Department for eight years, and has seven years experience with other departments.

• Service awards were presented to Commissioners Tom Castello – 16 years, Craig Stephens – 16 years, Eileen Meyers – 12 years and David Jason – 12 years.