PORT CARBON — The borough council has invited the public to a special meeting to discuss the development of the borough’s flood plan.
It will be held 6 p.m. Feb. 17 at the borough hall, 301 First St., and will include a slideshow presentation hosted by borough engineer James S. Tohill of Alfred Benesch & Co., Pottsville.
“Anyone interested can come to the meeting and offer input. Benesch will go over everything they have,” Councilman Andy Palokas said Tuesday at the borough’s February work session.
“When is that, Andy?” board Vice President John Franko asked.
“February 17th at 6 p.m., right here at borough hall,” Palokas said.
Since the flood of 2006, which caused more than $500,000 in damage to borough property, local officials have been discussing ways to prevent future flooding in the tributary that runs through the municipality. In January 2015, the state awarded the borough funding — a Growing Greener II Grant in the amount of $120,258 — to develop a watershed plan.
“We have been working on this project probably since February of last year, so we’re about a year into it. We have a lot of data. We got a lot of information from FEMA and a lot of other sources, compiled it and we’ll discuss that at that meeting. We want to give you an update on what we’ve done in the past year and where we’re headed, give some insight into possible alternatives,” Tohill said Tuesday night.
“This is a very large watershed. A lot of water comes down to this one municipality here. So there may be a lot of options are going to have a lot of cost involved with it. So we’re going to do our best scenarios, the best options for the borough, and present that to the public,” Tohill said.
“We’re going to have recommendations. We’re going to have preliminary cost estimates. And with each option, we’ll be able to tell how much flooding we can reduce in the borough. After that meeting, the borough will pick which option they think is the best, or which they can afford to apply for, and try to find grant money for design,” Tohill said.
On Jan. 12, the council approved the resignation of a veteran council member, Harold “Bucky” Herndon.
At Tuesday’s work session, the council voted to put Herndon back on the board.
“There is a position open on this council. Are there any nominations?” board President Ray Steranko asked at Tuesday’s work session.
“I’ll nominate Harold Herndon,” Franko said.
“Do I have a second on Harold?” Steranko asked.
Councilman Michael E. Welsh seconded the motion.
“Are there any other nominations?” Steranko asked.
There were none.
In a roll call vote, all council members present Tuesday voted to appoint Herndon to the board. They included Franko, Palokas, Steranko, Welsh, Michael Quercia and Warren Thomas.
“I’ll contact Mr. Herndon and inform him,” Steranko said.
Herndon could not be reached for comment.
“As far as I know, we have 30 days from the date of his resignation to fill that position,” Steranko said.
Steranko said if Herndon decides he does not want to return, the board will have to discuss other nominees at its next public meeting, slated for 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The snowstorm that dumped 27 inches of snow on the borough Jan. 22 and 23 cost the municipality “upwards of $9,000” in snow removal costs, Sandy Palokas, the borough’s secretary/treasurer, said Tuesday.
In a prepared statement, Steranko thanked the people who helped to plow the streets, which include a workforce of two full-time workers, three part-time workers and two volunteers, he said.
“On Friday evening, January 22, and continuing through Saturday, January 23, Port Carbon received a total of 27 inches of snow. Our borough workers were out working the plows late that Friday night and continued working around the clock trying to keep the roadways open, which seemed like an impossible mission with the amount of snow falling as each hour passed. That Saturday morning a snow emergency was declared here in the borough. The workers were instructed first to keep the emergency roadways open and then continue plowing the other streets,” Steranko said.
Under the snow emergency declaration the borough implemented, it hired the part-time drivers to work to keep the streets open, he said.