I appreciate your article in the Dec. 26 Clarion by Dan Balmer. Overall, the article was well written. I would like to point out a few items that need clarification.
■ The intent of the storm-water conveyance structure is to move excess surface water during a high water or flooding event to the river. We are not trying to drain the wetland.
■ The surface water is affecting not only our neighbors downstream, or at a lower elevation, but also our neighbors upstream in the Gas Well and Poppy Lane Subdivision (which are southeast and thirty feet higher in elevation). Many flooded properties are located outside of wetland and floodplain areas.
■ The excess surface water that we are dealing with recharges the ground water. Both the surface water and ground water are affecting crawlspaces, basements, septics, frost-heaved structures, and water wells.
■ The proposed storm-water conveyance structure will be constructed on the Seventh Street section line easement. An easement is property set aside for roads and utilities. The storm water-conveyance structure is a utility to benefit the entire neighborhood. The total amount of the borough-owned 400 acres that would be utilized for the project is less than three-quarters of an acre, and the entire structure would be within the section line easement.
We have hired a hydrologist and have talked with a surveyor about the proposed route. It is our intention to construct the storm-water structure with our own equipment, material, fuel, and labor; at no taxed cost to the borough or its residents. We intend to form a nonprofit corporation to receive tax deductible donations in order to construct and to maintain the drainage system.