SR borough has been working on drainage
SLIPPERY ROCK — The water that once ran and pooled on the roads in the Poplar Forest community is finding new channels built by the hands of borough employees.
“I am so proud of our guys who worked on this project,” said Shawn Pugh, Slippery Rock borough manager.
In early 2018, the borough council authorized Gateway Engineers to look into stormwater drainage issues at Poplar Forest after residents complained about standing water. In 2019, Gateway estimated the entire project to cost about $280,000.
According to Pugh, the borough has decided to pay for each project as it comes, and has spent about $43,000 so far. The borough council also purchased equipment to allow employees Ryan Jackson and Jim Grossman to do much of the work on their own, even creating catch basins from scratch.
Pugh said this has saved the borough a lot of money, and by the end of the season, they will have completed about 10 projects across White Oak, Willow and Sassafras drives, all of which saw an assortment of catch basins, storm drains and rerouted drainage systems.
“As they've gone on and gotten more projects under their belt, they've gotten more confident,” Pugh said.
Borough code enforcement officer Christian Laskey said Butternut Court proved to be the most complex fix, involving extensive trench work and multiple drainage points feeding into one line that led to a nearby creek.
Even on a dry day in the midst of a drought, workers digging to prepare for the new features encountered water — a lot of it. Workers waited for at least two days for the spewing water to drain before they could continue with drainage work.
“It laid under the road like a giant underground reservoir,” Laskey said.
Laskey said a large part of the problems surrounding Poplar Forest came from a lack of original drainage.
In past meetings, borough council and its solicitor have told residents stormwater drainage practices during the time of the area's development were inadequate compared to today's standards.
“The water traveled the roadways,” Laskey said.
Poplar Forest resident Regina Greenwald said at its worst, water would flow and collect into unsafe pools on the road that only worsened when those pools froze in the winter.
“In the winter time, it was just an accident waiting to happen because the ice patches were just unexpected,” she said.
Between the work she and her husband have done on their property and the work the borough has done, they have seen no excess of water.
“We haven't had any problems since,” she said. “I'm pleased with all their efforts.”
Greenwald, who once served on borough council, said there was a time when other items in the borough took priority, but when water issues escalated, borough council stepped in.
“These council people have been good about bringing it to the top of the list,” Greenwald said.
Pugh said the borough will finish up the last remaining project this year, and then wait on paving until they see how the work holds up this winter to save the borough from having to redig roadwork if complications arise.
He said if all goes well, the borough will pave the areas worked on, and continue moving forward with the remaining projects next year, which could put the finishing touches on the Poplar Forest drainage issues.
“We owe it to the taxpayer to make sure it is as close to 100 percent as possible,” Pugh said.
