SCRANTON — City council President Gerald Smurl worries that a $12 million stormwater project in Green Ridge might collapse because only three of 47 affected property owners have given easements to the city for the work to occur.
Smurl, who raised the issue at recent council meetings, said in a phone interview Tuesday that the city has met with residents several times in recent months regarding the project that will involve digging up and replacing an underground stormwater conduit that channels the intermittent Meadow Brook.
The city and residents have been hashing out details and the city has accommodated all concerns, but the situation has ground to a standstill, Smurl said.
The state will fund and do the work but the city first has to acquire the easements that would give workers access to private properties, Smurl said. The city, which will pay for the easements, has done appraisals of all properties and made fair-market offers of compensation in exchange for easements, he said. But most owners have balked because they apparently want more money for their easement, Smurl said, noting he is not amenable to having the city pay more than what has been offered.
“There is no motion to move this forward. It’s just a shame to see this sit idle,” Smurl said.
Resident Albert Young, whose home at 1713 Wyoming Ave. is one of the 47 properties involved in the stormwater project, said he has not agreed to an easement because the compensation offered to him is too low.
In an interview Tuesday at his home, Young said that after receiving the city’s easement compensation offer last year, he had his own appraisal of his property done last year. Four other neighbors on his block also have gotten their own appraisals and some have retained attorneys, he said.
Amid that backdrop, Lackawanna County’s first property tax reassessment since 1968 had owners of all 103,000 parcels in the county last month receive their tentative new property valuations. The new values have affected how property owners view the city’s easement compensation offers, Young said.
The city is “not paying enough money for the replacement of (lost) value” from the stormwater conduit project, Young said. “All of these other properties (involved in the stormwater project) are in the same boat.”
Young continued: “I’m all in favor of reassessment, don’t get me wrong, but they did not take into consideration this block, with the destruction that is going to happen and how the property values are going to diminish. That’s the reason nobody is signing (easements). The offers are too low to satisfy the demands.”
The old conduit has caused problems in recent years, notably in the 1700 block of Wyoming Avenue. Here, parts of the conduit had collapsed and caused stormwater backups that opened big holes in backyards and under garages and caused severe flooding of some homes.
Young and other residents in that block previously sued the city, resulting in various outcomes, including in Young’s case a jury verdict in favor of him and a former neighbor who sued jointly with Young, and settlements with others.
Some emergency work a few years ago in the 1700 block of Wyoming Avenue, including in Young’s backyard, replaced some of the conduit as a temporary fix, pending the permanent fix that’s in the works.
Meadow Brook runs from Dunmore and Forest Hill cemeteries to the Lackawanna River.
The underground conduit was first designed and constructed in 1955 to carry Meadow Brook through some residential areas of the neighborhood, according to city information on the project involved with securing legal and appraisal services.
The intermittent brook is dry at times but can become a deluge during heavy rain.
About 30 years ago, the state completed part of a flood-control project that upgraded the portion of Meadow Brook from the Lackawanna River to about the 1600 block of Penn Avenue. But the project then fell dormant and the rest of the conduit, from the 1600 block of Penn Avenue to the cemeteries, never got replaced.
In 2021, the state Department of Environmental Protection committed to a reconstruction of Meadow Brook from the Dunmore border to Green Ridge Street. The state Department of General Services leads the project.
During the April 1 council meeting Smurl spoke of the stalemate, noting some properties have had damage dating back over 20 years.
“We finally have the opportunity to repair it but can’t seem to get people to sign the easements. We had all properties appraised and have issued easement offers. If you disagree with the appraisal, you need to get your own certified appraiser,” Smurl said, according to minutes of the meeting. “This is a $12 million dollar project being done by the state Department of General Services but the city has to obtain the easements with Scranton taxpayers’ money and I don’t think a lot of taxpayers are willing to pay out of their pockets more than the (city’s) appraised value” offered for an easement.
Young replied to that sentiment, “Then we’re going to go to court.”
Monday update
Then: Scranton plans a $12 million project to fix a longstanding stormwater problem in Green Ridge affecting 47 properties.
Now: Only three of the affected property owners have given the city easements needed for the work to occur.
Scranton resident Albert Young discusses a city and state project to replace a stormwater conduit that runs through his backyard at 1713 Wyoming Ave. next to the adjacent Ryerson Avenue atop the retaining wall in background. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Albert Young’s backyard at 1713 Wyoming Ave. in Scranton, where an underground conduit channels the intermittent Meadow Brook. A concrete pad of a manhole for the conduit installed a few years ago under a temporary fix of stormwater flooding is visible in the background, next to a neighbor’s blue garage. The city has in the works a permanent fix of the conduit that runs through 47 properties. Photo taken from Ryerson Avenue on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
A crumbling retaining wall foundation of Ryerson Avenue in Scranton, as seen on Tuesday, April 8, 2025 from the backyard of Albert Young, whose home fronts on Wyoming Avenue. A city and state project to replace an underground stormwater conduit also would repair the retaining wall. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Scranton resident Albert Young discusses a city and state project to replace a stormwater conduit that runs through his backyard at 1713 Wyoming Ave. next to the adjacent Ryerson Avenue atop the retaining wall in background. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Albert Young’s backyard at 1713 Wyoming Ave. in Scranton on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, and where an underground conduit channels the intermittent Meadow Brook. A manhole for the conduit installed a few years ago under a temporary fix of stormwater flooding is visible in the background, next to a neighbor’s garage. The city has in the works a permanent fix of the conduit that runs through 47 properties. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
A crumbling retaining wall foundation of Ryerson Avenue in Scranton, as seen on Tuesday, April 8, 2025 from the backyard of Albert Young, whose home fronts on Wyoming Avenue. A city and state project to replace an underground stormwater conduit also would repair the retaining wall. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)