SHARON Mayor discusses flooding troubles

The flooded area may be too low to tap into storm drains.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- Mayor David O. Ryan says he will do what he can to help some South Myers and South White avenue residents with yard flooding, but he may be limited in his ability to help.
"It's private property," Ryan said, explaining the city can't start making improvements on private property.
If the city can make some drainage improvements that will help, however, the mayor said he will see to it they are made.
Some of the South Myers residents showed up at a city council meeting in April 2001 asking the city to help them get rid of the lake that forms in their back yards during heavy rain.
Resident's concern
Diana Murphy of 333 S. Myers Ave., who spoke at that time, said water coming off the nearby Shenango Valley Freeway and down the hill from the direction of State Street creates ponds that can be knee deep.
She suggested at the time that the city look at installing a drainage system to allow water to flow away rather than accumulate in their yards.
Ryan wasn't mayor then but he's been approached about the problem since taking office in 2002.
He had a street department crew inspecting the storm drains in the area Wednesday to find out if any were blocked and contributing to the problem.
All were open, he reported.
The area's topography may be too difficult to overcome, even with additional drains, the mayor said.
The White and Myers avenue properties that flood are below the level of the freeway, which means water coming down the hill from the direction of State Street can't get into storm drains on the freeway.
Runoff problems
In fact, the area had been getting a lot of runoff from the freeway as well, a problem the mayor said was alleviated when he insisted that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation put curbs along the freeway in that area during a recent improvement project.
Ryan said there are some storm drains below the level of the freeway, essentially in the side yards of some of the properties with water problems. Getting water from their back yards to those drains may not work, however, because the yards appear to be about the same elevation as the drains, the mayor continued.
The only way to get water into the drains might be to pump it, he said, adding that he will have the city's consulting engineer look at the problem and offer some recommendations.
During this year's wet weather, the backyard lakes remained for weeks, Murphy said.
The mayor has been "very forthright" in his efforts to assist homeowners, she said, but, "We just feel that the problem is just going to continue to get worse."
Murphy said she is even more concerned with flooding in light of the presence of West Nile virus in the region.
Standing water is prime breeding ground for mosquitoes that carry the virus.
gwin@vindy.com