Springfield residents demand action on flooding
Springfield Township residents packed the Board of Commissioners meeting Wednesday to express dissatisfaction with the township’s efforts at flood prevention and storm-water management.
For almost two hours, residents shared stories of how flooding has damaged their homes and living conditions.
“I have had six floods in seven years. I have four children, and I’ve been in a hotel since Sept. 12 because of the most recent floods,” Madeline Griffin of Wyndmoor said. “People’s safety is at stake. We woke up to a [torrential] river running through our home. We’ve done all we can do. We need the township to apply for federal funds to help us, and I need you to go to bat for us, be our champions for us.”
Some residents had sewage backup issues, and others dealt with water flowing into their basements, but overall, everyone there with flooding problems wanted answers from the board and said they have been asking for them for years.
“How much more info do I have to collect, and how much more from the neighbors do you have to hear?” Mike Max of Erdenheim asked. “I want to know, is this priority one from this night forward?”
Commissioner Jim Dailey said he recently spent time at Montgomery County’s disaster relief center to learn more about what exactly the board can do to help township residents. He came to the conclusion that the first step is having Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency inspectors visit the township, assess the damage and offer solution options, he said.
“They’re the experts, we just need to get them here,” Dailey said. “I think it’s about time we as the board of commissioners work together and bring the agencies here.”
President Jeff Harbison assured those in attendance that the board will move forward on the issue, working with Township Engineer Amy Riddle Montgomery and others if needed.
Residents also insisted tax dollars be spent on flood control before other projects they said are not as important. Flood damage has caused a decline in property values, they said, and this became a prominent point in the meeting as well.
“Where’s our input to say, hey forget about a new building or priorities that our money gets shot into,” said Tom Concannon of Erdenheim. “What is the next step here? We couldn’t give our houses away at this point.”
Last month, the board encouraged residents to apply for disaster aid on an individual basis, and Wednesday, Commissioner Bob Gillies suggested the board gather all of those applications to create a database and better organize problem areas.
After finishing their regular agenda, board members discussed their next step regarding disaster relief. All agreed quick action was needed to FEMA and PEMA involved and also to reach out to state representatives.
“If there are other resources available, some sort of specialized firm, maybe we could talk to them because we have a huge number of issues that we need to deal with,” Commissioner Alison Peirce said. “We’ve gotten a little bit complacent with this issue. We need to deal with it on a macro level, and we may need additional resources.”
Board members said they will discuss the issue further at their budget workshop scheduled for Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. In the meantime, Riddle will with her study of the township’s sewage system, they said.“We will talk about where we are and what we need to do,” Harbison said. “We need to figure out FEMA, the big things, the little things and the cost issues.”