EMPORIUM — Members of Emporium Borough Council are in contact with Eldred Borough officials to share information on levee issues.
Eldred’s levee system was recently discredited, and now residents are being forced to pay much higher flood insurance premiums on their properties.
“Small municipalities are dealing with water issues. We have to work together to see what we can do to alleviate our problems,” said Borough Council President Luann Reed. “Clearfield had five inches of rain and it caused a disaster. That could happen here — we don’t have a creek that can handle it.”
Funding is always an issue with levee repairs, with very few sources available to municipalities for upgrades, and engineering costs for mandated surveys being cost prohibitive.
In other news, work continues to repair a building that collapsed on a local playground and to issue citations to owners of abandoned cars within the borough.
Reed gave an update on the Lakes’ Building. Two months ago, an exterior wall of the building broke free of the structure and fell onto the fence and basketball court of the Third Street Playground.
Reed said information provided by Borough Manager Don Reed for the manager’s report indicated the property owner is still working within the provided timeframe to complete necessary upgrades.
Meanwhile, Emporium Borough Police Chief Dave Merritt said the first ordinance violation for an abandoned or nuisance vehicle was mailed out at the end of May. The addressee has ten days to pick up the notification from the post office. If it is not picked up, the sheriff will serve a notice. The property owner will then have a limited amount of time to remedy the situation or the vehicle can be picked up and impounded before being hauled to a scrapyard.
In other news, the manager’s report included information on recent successful meetings of the Cameron County Ambulance Association Task Force. The meetings were called “very productive.” A document has been developed that lists revenue received and cost-cutting measures that have been implemented up to this point.
“The executive board and municipalities are working well together,” said Councilman Randy Frey, who also serves on the ambulance board. “We’re looking for long-term solutions to help support the ambulance in the future.”
A concerned citizen attended the meeting to bring attention to speeding vehicles on Poplar Street and issues at the corners of that street with Fifth and Sixth streets.
The issue has been noted by other visitors at the meetings as well. Merritt said he has posted marked cars in the location and five vehicles have been stopped for suspected speeding. However, enforcement is difficult because in order to use VASCAR — the equation-based calculations of speed used because state law bars local officers from using radar guns — cannot be set up in that area because of a lack of 100 feet of visible roadway.
Several council members suggested a stop sign in the area may help alleviate the issue, and may even deter some drivers from using the route to avoid stoplights due to the added time.
Lastly, council approved a request from the Emporium Garden Club for $200 to pay for supplies to plant flowers in downtown planting boxes. The club will maintain the planters throughout the season.
