Contractors closed a gap in Duryea’s levee, as shown in this 2016 photo, but now the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) won’t certify the older remaining levee because it has deficiencies.
                                 File photo

Contractors closed a gap in Duryea’s levee, as shown in this 2016 photo, but now the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) won’t certify the older remaining levee because it has deficiencies.

File photo

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<p>Moss</p>

Moss

Duryea Mayor Keith Moss said his borough needs help getting its levee up to standard and maintained, and he is hopeful Luzerne County Council will grant required procedural clearance.

Moss emphasized the borough is not looking for a free ride and is willing to pay what isn’t covered by grants.

“It’s important for us in Duryea to help the residents so we can get our dike accredited and get everything up to snuff,” Moss said.

Some background is necessary to explain why the matter is now before county council and set for discussion at Tuesday’s council work session.

After 2011 flooding impacted 139 borough properties, the borough worked with the state Department of Environmental Protection to close a two-block gap in the borough’s approximately one-mile levee system, Moss said.

However, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has decided it won’t certify the older remaining levee for flood insurance purposes because it has deficiencies, including a “freeboard” buffer on top deemed insufficient based on the latest flood threat modeling, Moss said.

Joints of some storm pipes passing through the older levee also have separated, causing water to permeate and erode the earthen wall, Moss said.

In its quest to restore FEMA levee certification and avoid severe flood insurance rate ramifications, the borough sought assistance from the the county Flood Protection Authority, which oversees the Wyoming Valley Levee system along the Susquehanna, the mayor said.

The authority has a mitigation program to help fund Susquehanna River flood prevention projects in communities not protected by the Wyoming Valley levee, said authority Executive Director Christopher Belleman.

Authority board members unanimously agreed in February to add the Duryea levee rehabilitation project to the mitigation program, with the possibility the borough may partner with the authority to bring the borough levee system under the authority’s wing.

Belleman said the borough would have to seek additional outside grants to fund its levee project.

All authority expenses, including staff and attorney time and ongoing maintenance, would have to be covered by the mitigation fund, borough or outside grants — currently and going forward, Belleman said.

The Duryea project won’t be covered in any way by the property owner levee fee that funds maintenance of the 16-mile Wyoming Valley Levee, Belleman and authority members have repeatedly asserted.

“Duryea does not have the operations and maintenance experience, so it makes sense to roll it under our umbrella,” Belleman said.

Moss said borough officials already have agreed to cover future levee maintenance reimbursement to the authority, saying the expense will be added to the borough’s general fund budgets instead of requiring borough property owners to individually pay a separate fee. That funding commitment will be cemented in a cooperation agreement between the borough and authority, he said.

But the authority cannot proceed with any proposal to take over future maintenance of Duryea’s levee unless county council agrees to amend the authority’s articles of incorporation to allow the inclusion of Duryea, Belleman said.

“Without a change in the articles of incorporation, we can help with mitigation and seeking funding but not operations and maintenance,” Belleman said.

County council must approve any changes to authority articles of incorporation.

Ten of the 11 county council members voted Aug. 10 to postpone a decision on amending the articles, with Councilman Matthew Vough the lone member against delaying a vote.

Speaking during a public hearing before that vote, Flood Authority member Richard Adams urged council to oppose changing the authority’s charter to incorporate the borough levee. He argued Duryea was outside the authority’s realm of responsibility and that questions remain unanswered.

Some of Adams’ flood authority colleagues harshly criticized him during a subsequent authority meeting held last week, maintaining he had presented inaccurate information to council.

Authority Chairman Dominic Yannuzzi said he reviewed the audio and was “troubled by what I listened to.” He and others will attend Tuesday’s council meeting to “clear the record,” he said.

Yannuzzi said Adams is wrongly asserting the Duryea maintenance will be funded by the levee fee, even though the agreement between the authority and borough will mandate Duryea pays reimbursement.

In another example, Yannuzzi said Adams told council Duryea is along the Lackawanna River, not the Susquehanna. To clarify, Yannuzzi said Duryea is impacted by the Susquehanna when it rises. The Lackawanna feeds into the Susquehanna by the borough, and the Lackawanna had nowhere to drain in September 2011 because the Susquehanna was so high, which caused flooding of borough properties.

Yannuzzi also read meeting minutes documenting that Adams was part of a unanimous vote to ask council to change the articles of incorporation.

Adams said he was under the belief the matter would not be advanced until after the election.

Authority member William Hardwick questioned why Adams is tying the Duryea decision to the election.

Adams said people who are running in the 12 municipalities paying the levee fee will “have to take a position on this.”

Hardwick said flooding does not “hold off until after the election.”

“If we’re going to wait until after elections to make important decisions, maybe I’m not suited for this board,” Hardwick said.

“Maybe you’re not,” Adams replied.

Authority board member John Maday said authority decisions should not be held off due to elections.

“I don’t think we should ever be involved in that. Our mission is too important,” he said.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.