Penn Township residents hope for flood relief

As Fred Angelone watched his front yard turn once again turn into a river, he decided it was time to do something about it.

Angelone has lived on Country Court Drive in Penn Township since 1983. He’s seen occasional flooding problems, but they’ve become more common and more severe in the last few years — with frequent downpours making this year the worst of all.

“It’s continually getting worse every year,” he said.

After a severe fall storm, he started talking to his neighbors and learned they all had their own flooding stories — basement walls buckling under repeated assaults by rushing water, yards turning into swamps, water-covered streets turning to sheets of ice after a cold snap.

They tried various ways to ease the problem, including French drains, sump pumps and drainage ditches, but the water kept coming. The biggest problem, according to Angelone, is water runoff from Shulan Drive, located uphill from Country Court Drive. They claim Shulan doesn’t have proper drainage, which means during storms water will flow onto the cul-de-sac below.

Angelone and his neighbors decided to get organized and ask the township for help. They had several meetings with township leaders, where they learned that theirs is not the only neighborhood with problems.

According to township documents, Penn Township has a list of eight priority capital projects, including Country Court Drive, which was added after Angelone and his neighbors asked for help.

These projects would improve the storm sewers in numerous neighborhoods and repair landslides on Sleepy Hollow and Spring Valley roads. Doing them all would cost more than $3 million.

Hyland Road is on the list. Residents there say they’ve seen the road and their backyards turned into torrential rivers during heavy rains.

“There’s a little creek in the back, and it just rises up,’ said June Turkowski. “The water was just absolutely horrendous last time.”

During the worst floods, the township will close portions of Hyland Road.

“It will flood up there and you can’t get through. Then, it will flood down here and you can’t get through,” said Turkowski, gesturing toward opposite ends of the street.

Last week, township commissioners voted to raise taxes by 2 mills to cover capital construction projects, including flood relief. Angelone and numerous other residents of Country Court Drive and Hyland Road spoke at the budget meeting

The tax hike will raise about $500,000 a year. The township hopes to get state grants to cover some of the work, including major storm water improvements on Hyland Road and in the neighborhood of Harrison Park.

However, Angelone wonders how many residents will continue to battle water as the township picks and chooses where to spend its limited money.

Storm sewer improvements in his neighborhood would cost an estimated $317,400, according to township documents.

“The longer you wait, the worse the problem is going to become,” he said.

He doesn’t blame officials, saying they’re doing their best with what they have. But he hopes he and his neighbors will see relief sooner rather than later.

“Who gets the priority, how long do we have to wait?” he asked.

Jacob Tierney is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jacob at 724-836-6646, jtierney@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Soolseem.