Lackawanna County hopes to enlist all 40 of its municipalities to back an application for a state grant to study the possibility of creating a countywide stormwater management plan.
So far, nine municipalities — Vandling, Carbondale, Mayfield, Jermyn, Elmhurst Twp., Olyphant, Dickson City, South Abington Twp. and Ransom Twp.— each recently approved a “memorandum of agreement” to participate in the development of such a regional approach to stormwater management; and two more — Scranton and Old Forge — might be next, said county Regional Planning Manager Jessica Edwards.
The county aims to apply later this month for a state Department of Environmental Protection grant to fund a “Phase 1 Scope of Study” to start the development of managing stormwater on a countywide basis, she said.
“It is signing on that they will take part if we get the grant,” Edwards said. “We’re trying to get one (a memo of agreement) from every municipality” by June 13.
The effort comes under state Act 167, which “requires counties to prepare stormwater management plans and municipalities to adopt ordinances to regulate land development in a manner with the county’s plan,” according to legislation on the matter pending before Scranton City Council
The developments are the latest in the ongoing issue of how best to handle stormwater management.
The matter came to the forefront nearly a decade ago, when the Scranton Sewer Authority in 2016 sold the sewer authority serving the city and Dunmore to Pennsylvania American Water. Before the sewer sale, the SSA owned all of the sewer-system infrastructure, including lines that convey only sewage wastewater, portions that combine sewage and stormwater, and parts that carry only stormwater.
The city was, and remained, responsible for the portion of stormwater-only lines, called the municipal separate stormwater system, or MS4. Previously, both the city and sewer authority had a hand in maintaining this stormwater segment. The city fully inherited the stormwater segment, as PAW bought only the first two portions of sanitary sewer and combined sewer overflows.
In 2019, a consultant for the city determined a regional authority would be preferable, but if that’s not possible, the city would have to create its own stormwater management authority. By the fall of 2023, the city was still advancing a regional concept, possibly with an eight-member regional startup model. It did not occur.
Flash flooding that has periodically erupted throughout the county in recent years also has highlighted stormwater management issues.
Last Tuesday, Scranton City Council introduced a resolution from the administration of Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti to approve an “intergovernmental agreement of cooperation” and memorandum of understanding between the city and county for a countywide stormwater management plan.
Speaking during that meeting, Scranton resident Joan Hodowanitz wondered if the resolution means the county would assume the responsibility for a regional stormwater management authority, according to an Electric City Television simulcast and video posted on YouTube.
“Long, long ago in a galaxy far away, we were talking about who’s going to form a stormwater management authority and I never saw the shoe drop,” Hodowanitz said. “The stormwater management plan is long overdue and hopefully it’ll take off like a bat out of hell. We need it.”
This resolution is on Scranton council’s agenda for a vote on adoption during the regular weekly meeting for Tuesday,at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.
Meanwhile, Old Forge issued a public notice in The Times-Tribune on May 31 for a special meeting of the borough council on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Borough Building to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the county for a countywide stormwater management plan.
“We try to stay on board with Lackawanna County. We don’t want to be left alone by ourselves,” Old Forge Borough Manager MaryLynn Bartoletti said. “I think everybody’s trying their hardest to come up with some kind of plan.”