Jermyn is working to secure the final easements for his long-delayed, multimillion-dollar Rushbrook Creek flood protection project.
With a deadline to complete work in late 2026, the flood control project will cover just under half a mile along Rushbrook Creek and include stabilizing stream banks, excavating channels, installing culverts and replacing five bridges. The project was first approved in 1996, when former state Rep. Ed Staback secured funding for the work in the state’s capital budget after a flood.
Seven years later, on September 4, 2003, the creek was flooded by heavy rains and debris, flooding homes and businesses, causing millions of dollars in damage.
With involvement at the local, provincial, state and federal levels, the project reached a major milestone in February 2021 when the US Army Corps of Engineers issued a construction permit requiring work to be completed by December 31, 2026. Engineers began designing the project in 2008 and estimated at the time it would cost about $4 million.
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Rushbrook Creek flows out of Madison Avenue in Jermyn on Monday, November 25, 2024. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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A bridge on Lincoln Avenue over Rushbrook Creek in Jermyn will be closed to vehicles on Monday, November 25, 2024. The Rushbrook Creek flood protection project involves replacing five bridges. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Rushbrook Creek runs through a neighborhood parallel to Rushbrook Street in Jermyn, near the on-ramp to Route 6 Business (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Rushbrook Creek runs behind a house on Madison Avenue in Jermyn on Monday, November 25, 2024. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Rushbrook Creek runs along Rushbrook Street in Jermyn, near the on-ramp to Route 6 Business Monday, November 25, 2024. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Rushbrook Creek flows out of Madison Avenue in Jermyn on Monday, November 25, 2024. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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To gain access to the creek for construction purposes, Jermyn began seeking 41 temporary and permanent easements from property owners along the creek in 2022. While most accepted the city’s offer of $100, eight property owners did not, prompting Jermyn to sue them in December 2022 over easements. for 10 properties. The city cited eminent domain in its lawsuits to gain access to the properties.
The temporary easements will be in place to allow construction equipment to enter and exit the work areas, and the permanent easements will be for permanent access to the flood wall for maintenance, as well as to include portions of the flood wall itself, Fitzgerald said.
The city has since resolved easements with five of the eight property owners, attorney Brendan Fitzgerald said. Four property owners accepted $1,000 for the easements, and the municipality purchased a parcel at 642 Lincoln Ave. in September. for $11,000, Fitzgerald said. There used to be a house on the Lincoln Avenue property, but it has since been demolished, leaving an empty lot, he said. Because the easement covered essentially the entire property, the municipality bought it, Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald hopes to complete the remaining easements by the end of the year.
Once the easements are completed, the city will send them to the state so it can tender the project and move forward with construction, said city engineer Tony Grizzanti of KBA Engineering in Archbald.
Jermyn is also responsible for moving things like utilities, fences, sheds and signs, Grizzanti said. The municipality notified Pennsylvania American Water and UGI of the relocation of water and gas lines. Neither utility will begin the move until the project is ready to go, Grizzanti said, explaining that there will be no major moves, but rather utilities being shifted around a bit.
“Maybe we should move things underground so we don’t have to move them across the street or two blocks away,” he said.
To pay for easements and relocations, Jermyn had received a $385,000 grant from the Department of Community and Economic Development in 2014, but the funding expired in 2021 after years of extensions.
To make up for that lost funding, the City Council passed a resolution last week to request $273,940 in local equity account financing to pay for engineering, relocations and engineering for permanent easements, Fitzgerald said. Fitzgerald credited state Rep. Kyle Mullins, D-112, Blakely, with helping the council secure grants for the project.
At the state level, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is working with Jermyn officials to ensure they secure all necessary land acquisitions, DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said in an email.
The DEP has received all necessary construction permits, including under the federal Clean Water Act from the Department of the Army, a Pennsylvania Chapter 105 water obstruction and encroachment permit, and a highway occupancy permit from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Connolly said.
The DEP’s Waterways and Wetlands program is finalizing a geotechnical report on the project, and once that report is complete, the flood project could be sent to the state Department of General Services for a bid, Connolly said .
There is no timeline for when work will begin, she said.
“We will provide updates as the process progresses,” Connolly said.
