 
|
|||||||||
              
|
Cranberry residents look to council to curb errant creek
Wednesday, March 07, 2001 By Karen Kane, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
The ribbon of water that trickles behind Jeff Bach's house on Robinhood Drive in Cranberry is tranquil, most days.
But let Mother Nature dump a few inches of rain onto already wet ground and that ribbon of water is transformed into a vicious snake that can spit its poison into people's yards and homes.
Bach can't take it anymore. He doesn't want to take it anymore.
"I grew up in this house waking up in water, not often but often enough, on wet days in the spring and summer. I'm back in this house and I want things to change," he said.
In August, Bach and his wife and children moved back to the family homestead, buying the house at 117 Robinhood from his dad, Richard. He was welcomed with a couple of inches of water in his family room.
The problem is not complicated.
Robinhood Drive, a few feet from the Pennsylvania Turnpike, makes up the eastern border of Fernway, Cranberry's oldest -- and arguably flattest -- neighborhood. Built about 40 years ago along the Brush Creek flood plain, the houses were situated on concrete slabs, instead of foundations, to avoid basement water problems.
At least two meandering streams cut through the neighborhood on their way to Brush Creek. Add a hearty rainfall and three proves the charm, especially if you live near one of the meandering creeks.
"The banks just can't contain the waters when it rains hard," he said.
The problem has worsened over the years as development has occurred in the watershed. More buildings, parking lots and other impervious surfaces means water flows over those surfaces instead of seeping into the ground.
For those on either side of Robinhood about midway through the plan, the problems range from occasional water seepage into their homes to eroding property to muddy yards.
Property owners have stacked up stone blocks to fortify the creek banks. The blocks have fallen and been replaced. Others have trucked in fill to beef up the banks and soak up the waters. The banks have eroded and the earth is still muddy.
Patrick and Barb Cusick have lived in their home at 115 Robinhood for about 30 years.
"We've had water in the house six or seven times, mostly in the past 10 years or so," Patrick Cusick said. The creek divides his yard from his neighbor's. "It's eroded my property. I brought over 30 tons of earth in seven years ago or so to rebuild the creek wall, and we still have problems."
Across the street, a neighbor's shed sits precariously close to the ever-eroding creek banks.
Frustrated, the neighbors are asking Cranberry supervisors for help. Representing his neighbors, Bach asked the board at a public meeting Feb. 22 to do whatever it could.
Bach said he's hoping the creek bed can be deepened and perhaps lined with concrete to stop the erosion.
Cranberry Manager Jerry Andree said the township has taken some steps to help, like requiring bigger-than-usual detention ponds behind Cranberry Square and Home Depot. Detention ponds collect excess rainwater and slowly release it into the ground. The township also replaced the stone wall lining the creek banks when it fell a few years ago.
Andree conceded that a more permanent solution is needed. The trouble is cost.
Andree said the township has $200,000 set aside to deal with storm water issues. But, he said, this problem is less storm water and more an issue of a "typical Western Pennsylvania creek meandering to a new location."
Andree claims the legal responsibility for correcting the problem rests with the homeowners. "The streams are on their properties. Streams are not public property," he said.
Still, the township wants to help, he said. There was momentum to come up with a solution a few years ago, but one property owner resisted. "When we were rebuffed, we put our energies elsewhere," Andree said.
So, it's back to square one. Andree said he and township staff will meet with residents "to see where we can go from here."
Bach, for his part, said residents would like the township to willingly help, but would go to court if friendly efforts fail.
"These are our homes and we can't fix this ourselves. We need help," he said.
|
||||||||
