Donald Shutt Jr., an emergency management director in upper Dauphin County, would like to see better staging of supplies for emergency shelters.
Donald Shutt Jr. (right) of upper Dauphin County offers emergency plan suggestions to George Connor, Dauphin County deputy director of community and economic development, and Leah Eppinger, planner with Tri-County Regional Planning Commission.
Buyout of a flooded home in Paxtang and expansion of Spring Creek is what Donald Muthersbaugh is hoping to see.
They were among two dozen people who offered suggestions to Dauphin County as it prepares an application for up to $500 million in HUD's National Disaster Resilience Competition to mitigate future flooding.
The meeting at the Swatara Township municipal building Tuesday morning was one of four in various locations of the county. About 20 people attended a similar session Monday night in Halifax.
Other meetings include:
- Aug. 26, 6:30 p.m., Middletown MCSO building, 60 W. Emaus St., Middletown.
- Sept. 4, 10 a.m., Hamilton Health Center, 110 S. 17th St., Harrisburg.
At the meetings, the public is asked to offer suggestions in areas of housing, human services, infrastructure, environment and education, and economic growth.
Dauphin County was chosen as one of 40 communities throughout the U.S., and the only one in Pennsylvania, to participate in a competition for funding offered by HUD and the Rockefeller Foundation.
"This program is based on resilience - the capacity to withstand challenges and recover from difficulty," George Connor, Dauphin County deputy community and economic development director.
The application, due Oct. 27, will look solutions to mitigate future flooding in the Swatara and Paxton Creek watersheds, as well as areas where river flooding occurs.
A main issue expressed by upper Dauphin County residents is being cut off from the southern end of the county when flooding occurs, Connor said. Dauphin County Commissioner George Hartwick said emergency plans already include use of boats to transport people when flooding occurred on Route 147.
Discussions are in the progress with multiple health systems to establish an emergency care facility in northern Dauphin County, Hartwick said.
Shutt said Halifax High School was turned into an emergency shelter for people stranded during Tropical Storm Lee. He sees the need for a place to store cots and food for future emergencies. "It's hard to set up shelters if you don't have the necessary equipment," Shutt said.
And while there are contingency plans to get patients to hospitals in the event roads are blocked by floods or accidents, Shutt said they need to be refined. Those discussions are also happening in advance of next summer's planned three-month closure of Route 11/15 south of Marysville by PennDOT for rock slope work.
Other infrastructure suggestions included improved public transportation for northern Dauphin County and sewer/water service for Middle Paxton Township.
Hartwick said he sees the main objective of the funds being sought as mitigating flooding, and reducing exposure to homes and businesses, along with reducing future payouts for the federal government. "It's reducing future risk," Hartwick said.
Lauren Zumbrun, economic development manager for Derry Township, attended to see what opportunities there may be for her community.
A flood control project in the area of Walton Avenue off Hersheypark Drive, which was under water in Tropical Storm Lee - is among those Derry Township is considering. That project could also help ensure access to Hershey Medical Center.
Parts of this projects are among those on a list of $197 million worth of unmet need Dauphin County has compiled, which Connor said the county is hoping to fund in a future phase.
Tom Spagnolo of Swatara Township said widening Spring Creek is among the items on his list.
"It's highly sedimented," Spagnolo said, estimated the creek is now about four feet wide, instead of the 12 feet it once was, due to all the soil that's accumulated over the years. Flooding in the area of 40th Street behind the East Park Drive apartments is also a concern, he said.
Spring Creek is "a glorified ditch," said Muthersbaugh of Paxtang, who owns a home along it that was flooded in 1972, 1975 and four times in 2004. He said he can no longer afford flood insurance, which was raised to $1,000 a year, so he no longer can rent it out.
The creek is not adequate to handle all the runoff from Swatara Township's businesses and development, he said.
Under the category of economic growth, Steve Letavic, Londonderry Township manager, suggested the county focus on regional economic development in cooperation with municipalities. It should reach out to businesses and economic development groups, and also focus on "smart growth" principles and address housing and education as well.
Flood mitigation should be looked at watershed-wide, and include ways to get people out of harm's way, return flood plains to open space and capture some of the water flowing downstream.
Paul Cornell, Swatara Township manager, had a myriad of suggestions to improve economic development. Tourism is the number one business in Swatara Township, Cornell said, as people travel through and stay there while enjoying destinations from Hershey to Gettysburg. Traffic is a downside, which he hopes the upcoming I-83 PennDOT project to widen northbound lanes and rebuild the main interchange will address.
Flooding from Spring and Swatara creeks impacts Swatara Township, which so far has bought and demolished 24 flooded-out homes, Cornell said. More recreational areas and bike and pedestrian trails are needed in Swatara Township, Cornell said.
Dredging Wildwood Lake, and rebuilding its discharge points, is a project that could be incorporated, so that it would hold more water.
Erin Letavic, an HRG engineer working on the application, said dredging would also offer opportunities to expand Wildwood Park's habitat, and enable it to support fish and be a place to kayak and canoe.
Detention areas are also being considered for the areas of Derry and Swatara townships to protect places where people live and work.
Here were some other suggestions:
Housing: Eliminate blight and slumlords; buy out flooded homes that didn't qualify for FEMA's program.
Health and human services: Add an emergency/acute treatment facility in northern Dauphin County; compile a comprehensive list of services available to the public; ensure fresh drinking water after floods; provide more emergency preparedness information.
Environment and recreation: Maintain detention ponds; expand greenbelts along creeks; add more recreational space in Swatara Township.