Solicitor to answer questions on Ramsay Terrace rain garden plan

Ramsay Terrace residents likely to have a rain garden on their Mt. Pleasant Borough property will have the opportunity to ask questions during a special meeting next month.

The meeting will be held at 6 p.m., prior to council's regular meeting at 7 on June 7. The borough solicitor will be on hand to answer questions residents might have about the landowner agreement residents must sign to give the borough the right of way to place the rain gardens on their properties.

Mike Hamilton, stormwater grant coordinator with the Westmoreland Conservation District, told council Monday that the 13 properties along North Geary Street in this first round of residential rain gardens have been assessed as to the best site for the gardens.

In the upcoming days, conservation district staff will place white flags indicating the approximate location of the rain garden in each yard. The site was determined based on existing landscape conditions, slope of the property, downspout locations and probable underground utility locations.

The white flags also will serve as markers for the utility companies to locate underground utilities in the area of the rain garden, he said.

Hamilton said the initial assessment of the properties provided insight into where the underground utilities might be; this next step will help them finalize the design of each rain garden.

Within three to five days after the flags are placed, the utility companies will mark their lines. Conservation district staff will then schedule appointments with residents to discuss the rain gardens — including which plants they prefer — and the landowner agreement.

A rain garden will not be placed on a property where a landowner agreement has not been signed, Hamilton said.

Once these steps are completed, the conservation district will finalize the rain garden designs and the project will be advertised for bidding.

Hamilton said they have no idea how much the project will cost, but the quotes they receive from this first of three residential rain garden projects will help them determine if they will be able to do the 30 or 40 total.

He added that there is no guarantee all of the residents in either the second or third group who expressed interest in having a rain garden will, in fact, get one.

Construction is being completed on a rain garden in the borough building parking lot and the Levin's parking lot.

Council approved motions to ratify the purchase of tickets for the mayor and council for the buffet at the G3 conference at $15 each and approved the Mt. Pleasant Glass & Ethnic Festival rules and regulations.