Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown said rebuilding a collapsed section of the wall along Laurel Run in Parsons is a priority.
Jerry Lynott | Times Leader
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Wilkes-Barre city officials revisited the backyard of Donna and Kevin Keyes on Mitchell Street in Parsons where a section of the stone wall along Laurel Run collapsed. Shown from left to right: Butch Frati, Director of Operations and Assistant City Administrator; Fire Chief Jay Delaney; Mayor George Brown; and City Councilman Bill Barrett.
Jerry Lynott | Times Leader
Donna Keyes, second from left, met with Wilkes-Barre officials Tuesday in her backyard on Mitchell Street where a section of the stone wall along Laurel Run collapsed. Shown from left to right: Fire Chief Jay Delaney; Keyes, Police Chief Joseph Coffay; Mayor George Brown; and Leo Lamooney, Keyes’ father.
Jerry Lynott | Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE — Further collapse of a stone wall into the creek bed of Laurel Run behind a Mitchell Street house made rebuilding it a priority for Mayor George Brown.
Along with city officials Tuesday afternoon Brown revisited the backyard of Kevin and Donna Keyes in Parsons to survey the damage initially caused by the heavy rains from the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida on Sept. 1.
“The idea here was to reach out to the neighbors, let them know this is a number one priority for our administration,” Brown said.
Laurel Run turned into a torrent from the daylong rain a week ago and across town Brown ordered the evacuation of residents along a section of Solomon Creek that threatened to flood. The water has receded and the mud and dirt cleaned up.
Since then more of the wall and backyard fell into the still swift moving water below.
“It’s gotten worse. More wall had collapsed,” said Donna Keyes.
Last week the loud rush of the water alerted Keyes that an approximate 60 foot section of the wall failed, taking with it a tree and leaving large cracks in the dirt near a shed.
“We were here two or three times that night,” Brown said.
In the light of day, the damage was evident with the wall reduced to rubble in spots and whole sections lying on the other side of the creek bed.
Construction of a damaged section of wall began before the storm, but the scope of the project will expand. Brown said an engineer has been hired to study the integrity of the wall. It was built by the Works Progress Administration, one of the alphabet agencies President Franklin D. Roosevelt created during the Great Depression. The WPA employed people on infrastructure and public works projects locally and nationally.
“Engineers are doing the study now. We’ve contacted the contractor that’s already working on the creek area to see if he can get additional labor and expertise to work on this. It’s ASAP. It’s an emergency. That’s the key here, it’s an emergency,” Brown said.
The work will be paid with some of the $37.1 million the city was awarded in federal in American Recovery Plan funds, Brown said. He added that he will ask City Council to approve the additional work. “It has to get done. One way or another, it’s going to get done,” he said.
Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.