CAMPBELL Council seeks grant for storm sewer

Replacing the sewer would be preferable, the mayor says.
CAMPBELL -- City council has passed a series of resolutions aimed at securing a federal grant to clean out a storm sewer that carries rainwater from Wilson Avenue to the Mahoning River, or to replace it with a larger one.
The 4-by-5 foot storm sewer has been inadequate to handle this summer's heavy rains, resulting in flood damage to CSX railroad tracks with disruption of train operations and flooding of the Calex Corp. plant with 4 to 5 feet of water, Mayor John E. Dill said. With about 130 employees, Calex is the city's largest private-sector employer, he said.
In addition to freight trains, some of which carry hazardous materials, Amtrak passenger trains use the CSX tracks, he noted. When he and Federal Emergency Management Agency and railroad officials surveyed the scene Wednesday, five trains passed within one hour, the mayor said.
Maintenance cost
The city has spent about $100,000 over the past two years to hire a Philadelphia-based private contractor to clean out the sewer, which carries drainage from the hillside above Wilson Avenue and runs 20 feet underground, he said.
"We've got debris through the entire storm sewer," he said.
The city lacks the equipment or qualified personnel to clean out the storm sewer, he said. If it is to be replaced, which the mayor said is the preferable option, the city wants the new one to be 6-by-8 feet.
The resolutions passed in a special meeting Wednesday authorize city officials to apply for FEMA money, set up a fund to receive it and authorize an expedited bidding process on the sewer work, which the mayor said he wants to have done this fall.
The mayor said he didn't know the cost of fully cleaning out or replacing the storm sewer but said a consultant is studying the matter for the city.