MAHONING VALLEY Boardman flood victims tell officials to work on a plan

Frustrated residents expressed their rage in a raucous meeting.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Township government has been well aware of drainage problems for two decades and still doesn't have a comprehensive township-wide drainage plan, angry flood victims say.
"People keep saying the same thing to me. If they [township officials] see a problem on Buchanan Drive, where we're moving that much water, why don't they fix these smaller problems now, and develop a plan for the entire township?" Dominic DeSalvo of Buchanan Drive told officials Monday night.
As an example of a localized problem, he referred specifically to the "Buchanan River" he said forms on his street when it rains heavily. He then asked Trustee Tom Costello if a township-wide plan is in place.
"At this moment in time, no, there is not a plan in place," Costello replied, drawing groans from the audience. "The plan starts with input from the community," he told about 200 people who had gathered at Boardman Center Middle School to meet with township and Mahoning County officials.
"Southern Boulevard has flooded for 20 years that I know of, and there still is no plan. I have no walls, and you have no plan," complained a tearful Lynda Zurko of Southern Boulevard, who said repairs are costing her $40,000.
"You need a plan, and you need to tell us what that plan is," she cried, receiving tumultuous applause from the audience.
How bad it was
On July 23, the water pressure was so great that the basement walls of Zurko's duplex collapsed. Zurko recalled people were navigating Southern Boulevard in boats in major rains in 1985 and 1991.
"Stop all building permits until it's fixed," shouted Barry Brink of Indianola Road, urging that no more permits be issued until the township's drainage problems are resolved.
"We're generating the work list. There's a giant work load being generated. I know many of you who are looking for improvements. The first thing my department has to do is put back our infrastructure and, at least, give everybody here what they deserve -- what's already in place," before township officials consider installation of new and larger drainage pipes and more retention ponds, said Gary Dawson, road superintendent.
"This forum is not addressing those problems," DeSalvo said, receiving applause from many in the audience. "Twenty-three years ago, I said, 'My God, do you know how much water my Buchanan River puts on this street?'" he recalled of his communication with township officials.
"It put it to the top of the fire hydrants again," he said of recent flooding. "You guys and prior administrations have known for years" about the township's flooding problems, he said.
County Engineer Richard Marsico said 4.8 inches of rain in 24 hours is considered the once-in-100-years flood. "Some spots exceeded that in two to three hours" in Boardman on the evening of Aug. 9, he said.
"Most of the damage that I observed was in areas that were built up about 30 or 40 years ago that didn't have some of the safeguards that we use now," he said.
Boardman Township zoning officials began requiring developers to install stormwater retention systems in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dawson said.