TimesLeader.com

Dallas drainage problems to be repaired

REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com

DALLAS – Resident Don Holdredge asked borough council Wednesday evening when a stormwater drainage piping replacement project would begin in his neighborhood.

Holdredge said his Norton Avenue property has been regularly damaged by stormwater runoff beginning in 2006. He said he has been in contact with the borough for 17 months about the issue, and it has still not been resolved.

Borough Manager Tracey Carr said $100,000 from a federal grant will be spent on Norton Avenue, Spring Street and Lehman Avenue to address the problem.

Carr said that because the federal money is going through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, an environmental study is required. The study was completed and sent to the county and to the state Department of Environmental Protection, which Carr says still has the documents.

Once DEP returns the study, it must be advertised for 15 days and then the county must send it back to the federal government before the project can be bid.

“We’re probably looking at a couple months,” said council President Pat Peiffer. “It’s the government at work, very, very frustrating.”

Holdredge said that in the meantime his property is continuing to deteriorate.

“I’m the one suffering,” Holdredge said. “I’m the one suffering the costs.”

In other business, council gave Carr approval to set a public hearing date and advertise the zoning ordinance and zoning map amendment for a public hearing with council as recommended by the borough’s planning commission.

Carr said the rezoning is part of the borough’s master plan to revitalize the downtown area. The new zoning districts are being created to allow a mix of uses to recreate the downtown feel.

The borough’s zoning ordinance was last updated in 1992.

In another matter, Mayor Tim Carroll expressed concerns over signs that he says are being posted throughout the borough by various businesses.

Carroll said he discussed the matter with Carr, who agreed to send out a news release reminding the public that such signs are illegal.

“They’re really making our town look bad,” Carroll said. “It’s bad enough we have to put up with the election signs.”

Also, council observed a moment of silence in honor of Thomas Edward Reese, who served as the borough’s tax collector for 32 years. Reese, who was 85, died Sunday at his Dallas home.