Plum Borough will develop a comprehensive storm water management program in hopes of fixing an aged system that has failed during several major storms. Council has agreed to find funding for what will be a major, multi-year project and is committed to fixing the problems instead of making spot repairs after big storms. Bill Berchick, public works director, told council Monday night he can’t express enough how badly the borough’s storm water management system is deteriorating. Some areas of the borough do not have a complete system and the storm sewers that do exist only help the immediate area around the sewer, which can lead to downstream flooding. The storm water situation came to the forefront again after the Aug. 9 flooding in the borough. Remnants of Hurricane Ivan in September 2004 brought major flooding to the borough and many heavy rainstorms since then have led to flooding on some level. “The answer is a designed storm water system,” said Berchick. He said all the storm water issues are at a critical stage and the rains collapsed many pipes in Plum. The public works employees find collapsed pipes almost daily. “We’re fortunate there has been no major rain event since August,” said Berchick. “If there is another event, another 20 to 30 pipes will collapse.” Making repairs to the storm system requires a 95 percent mobilization of the public works department and uses the majority of the borough’s equipment. Berchick said this has an impact on the budget and has affected other projects around the borough that are put on hold. “This is not an effective use of manpower. The public works department should be focused on maintenance and not construction. We need a proactive plan to fund and design projects annually.” Berchick has an inventory of all the projects, repairs and problems that need to be addressed and the inventory is updated daily. “We need a commitment of funds on this project and, down the road, we need a comprehensive storm water management plan.” Mike Thomas, borough manager, agreed the plan needs to be created in conjunction with addressing the problems threatening residents’ homes today. Problems exist within Plum’s oldest communities where the storm sewers are at least 30 years old and in some cases much older.. Berchick said construction materials have changed since then and the materials used at that time usually have a life span of 20 to 30 years. “The majority, if not all, of that pipe needs to be replaced. It’s collapsed throughout the borough, especially in Holiday Park. It’s a major maintenance problem.” Berchick also said the next major rainfall will likely take out all of the work his crew has done since Aug. 9. “We can’t put a Band-Aid on a hemorrhage,” said Chuck McMeekin, council president. “This is going to be major funds. We need to get estimates on the cost as soon as possible so we can get money from the feds, the state, wherever we can get it.” Bob Mitall, borough engineer, agreed and said the most cost effective way to handle the situation is to dig up the existing sewers in many areas and replace them. Kristie Linden is a staff writer for the Advance-Leader in Plum.

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