Flood authority, Duryea might work together on levee upgrades
Mar. 17—The Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority might partner with Duryea to upgrade that borough's flood control system and prevent flood insurance rates paid by Duryea property owners from rising sharply next year.
On Tuesday, the authority board voted to pursue the potential rehabilitation of the Duryea levee system, after authority officials attended a recent Duryea borough meeting, said board Chairman Dominic Yannuzzi.
The plan is in the early preliminary stages, said Yannuzzi and authority Executive Director Christopher Belleman.
Authority solicitor Christopher Slusser will look into potential legal issues and will consult the solicitors of Duryea and Luzerne County, Yannuzzi said. The authority will work with county council to develop the plan if it is deemed feasible, he said.
Something needs to be done about flood protection along the Lackawanna River in Duryea, because preliminary flood maps released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency last fall designate the borough as "unknown flood risk," Belleman said.
That would be bad news for Duryea property owners who pay for flood insurance coverage.
"The Duryea levee is not accredited by FEMA," Belleman said. "If nothing is done, insurance premiums will increase dramatically."
The goal is to rehabilitate the levee system to meet standards set by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by the time the flood maps take effect in late 2022, he said.
Duryea does not have the resources to do that alone, so the borough reached out to the flood protection authority, Belleman said.
Later this month, the authority will issue a request for proposals for engineering and surveying services regarding the proposed levee system rehabilitation. It will likely take about a year to develop a project plan, Belleman said.
Many questions need to be answered before the levee system upgrade can proceed, according to Belleman and Yannuzzi.
For one thing, it is not clear how the project would be funded, though the authority would seek grant funding, they said.
The project would also require numerous approvals, at the borough, county, state and federal levels, Belleman said.
The authority would need to revise its bylaws, he said.
It is also not clear how Duryea property owners who live in the flood plain would pay for the upgraded levee protection.
It is possible they would pay a levee fee, which the authority collects from its existing rate-payers in the Susquehanna River flood plain.
Or Duryea might pay a flat fee to the authority to cover the cost of levee protection, Belleman said.
The authority board should know more about the status of the project by its next meeting on April 20, Yannuzzi said.
Contact the writer:
570-821-2117
