Flooding Issues Requiring Governmental Action

Ardsley Flood Control-An Example of How Government Addresses Problems Facing Residents But Often Very Slowly

Flooding in the Ardsley section of Upper Dublin had been a perennial issue affecting a residential neighborhood constructed in the 1940s. One of the principal missions of long-term Upper Dublin Ward 5 Commissioner Jules Mermelstein throughout his five-terms was to address this. Although much smaller in scope and cost than the flooding in the Office Park, it took almost twenty years to complete this project despite repeated statutory appropriations by state legislative action before construction could begin, as evidenced by repeated legislative authorizations before construction was untaken.⁸⁹

1996-Act of July 11, 1996, Special Session 2, P.L. 1791, No. 8, C. 86, Special Session No. 2 of 1996, No. 1996-8, Appropriation:

Subsection (xii) authorized $1,800,000 for “[c]onstruction and rehabilitation of Ardsley drainage channel in Upper Dublin Township (Base Project Allocation- $1,8000,000)”

1997-Act 47. Appropriation. Itemization of flood control projects

“Upper Dublin Township-Construction and rehabilitation of Ardsley Drainage Channel-$1,800,000”

2002-Act 131. Appropriation. Itemization of flood control projects

(iii) “Upper Dublin Township, Flood Control Project for Ardsley Drainage Control Channel (Base Project Allocation-$1,800,000) (Design and Contingencies-$200,000)”

2006, Jan. 7, 36 Pa. Bull., No. 1, at p. 57, Department of General Services, Bureau of Engineering and Architecture, permit request for Ardsley Drainage Control Channel

2010, May 11, Procurement, DGS [Department of General Services] 181-15, Solicitation, Service & Materials, Ardsley Drainage Channel Flood Control, bids due July 7, 2010, at Upper Dublin Township Building

2010, July 5, Ardsley drainage project finally set to get under way, thereporteronline.com

2015-45 Pa. Bulletin, No. 39, at p. 5796

The following permit applications, requests for Environmental Assessment approval and requests for 401 Water Quality Certification have been received by the Department [of Environmental Protection]. Section 401 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) (33 U.S.C.A. § 1341) requires the Commonwealth to certify that the involved projects will not violate the sections 301—303, 306 and 307 of the FWPCA [Federal (33 U.S.C.A. §§ 1311—1313, 1316 and 1317) as well as relevant State requirements:

and at p. 5824:

E-4614-002. ….”in Abington and Upper Dublin Townships, Montgomery County, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District.

“To install a stormwater culvert and headwall that outlets into a box culvert located at the long existing Commonwealth-constructed Upper Dublin Flood Protection Project”

It is unclear whether this project sets a record for longest interim between authorization and construction given its relatively small size.⁹⁰

Notes

89.The ability to plan is frequently thwarted by governmental delays. The most prominent example of this in the Philadelphia suburbs is the redevelopment of the Willow Grove Naval Air Station, abandoned under the Clinton Administration, with most of its functions transferred to Maguire Air Force Base in New Jersey pursuant to congressional authorization to shrink armed force bases. As of this writing, Horsham’s authority had just secured zoning changes to effect emergence of a mini-city at the site. That development will, if not further delayed, see building activity completed three decades after the base was closed. Of course, when completed, the traffic generated by that development will affect neighboring communities, including, of course, Upper Dublin. That development, the most dramatic in the area (far eclipsing the proposed Promenade East development recently approved) would affect planning decisions. That, of course, is why community planning may result in unexpected and sometimes haphazard impacts.
90.A similar delay occurred in repairs required on Susquehanna Road in which traffic soared as development in both Abington and Upper Dublin stressed the colonial era highway. According to the then township manager, in 1956 a bus tour of municipal, school board and local legislators was conducted to view the highway’s issues. In 1965, a decade later the State finally began improvements that even now seem inadequate to the problem. Relief in Sight py (sic!) 1965 on Susquehanna Road in Upper Dublin Area, Phila. Inquirer, April 2, 1964, p. 21.