Frackville gets emergency permit to repair stormwater damage at Third and Arch
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - A cordoned off portion of Arch Street at Third Street on March 12, 2020.
FRACKVILLE – The borough of Frackville may finally be able to tackle stormwater damage from a year and a half ago, hoping to preserve access to a neighborhood of town.
Flood waters from the Little Mahanoy Creek damaged a portion of Laurel Street between Nice and Second and destroyed Walnick Drive between Wood Lane and Wall Street in 2018, leaving both roads closed since.
The roads were two of only three ways to access a three block-by-three block neighborhood, which includes the Broad Mountain Nursing Home. The third way to access the neighborhood, the Arch and Third Street intersection, has been at high risk of collapse because of damage to a pipe which carries the Little Mahanoy beneath it.
On May 12, barricades cordoned off two portions of the roadway, and signs of damage were evident.
At Wednesday’s borough council meeting, council was hopeful a solution was on the horizon.
“At 5:30pm (Wednesday), borough council was informed by its engineer, Entech, we’ve been able to convince DEP all of these repairs, particularly in the Arch Street area, are in emergency need of repair,” said borough solicitor Mark Semanchik during the meeting. “We are awaiting, as we speak, a commitment from FEMA that could range in the area of $1.5 to $2 Million to undergo the project.”
The borough plans to prioritize and expedite the work on Arch Street, while preserving access to the neighborhood.
The hope is that the work will be underway within 30 days.
“By next month, we should start the process of eliminating this nightmare forever,” said Charlie Berger, borough councilman, in response to Semanchik’s explanation.
Semanchik explained after the meeting that the closed portion of Laurel Street is part of the project, but not part of the emergency portion. The emergency portion, he said, is primarily in the Arch Street area, to alleviate a potential collapse.
“If that gets shut down because of a collapse, nobody can get to the nursing home, nobody can get home,” Semanchik said. “There’s a pipe that goes underneath the road. The pipe has collapsed (partially), the road is following the collapse of the pipe, and at some point, the pipe will completely collapse, and the road will follow.”
The emergency permit was passed along to FEMA today, which council said should begin the process to alleviate the hazard.
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