Officials OK stormwater repairs along Route 422

AMITY » A 50-year storm is rare, but the Amity Township Board of Supervisors agreed to spend $113,000 for repairs to prevent future water runoff along Route 422.

PennDOT will begin making repairs in the area of R&R Games Home Recreation And Furniture, 531 W. Benjamin Franklin Highway (Route 422 west).

Repairs include replacing the storm inlet filter boxes, concrete storm boxes, pipes, and adding stone, macadam, topsoil, compost, and re-seeding the site.

The state agency’s engineering costs were $228,000.

The site was the location of a 50-year storm that flooded the westbound lane of the highway between 4 and 5 p.m. on July 11, 2019.

According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a 50-year rainfall event has a 2-percent chance of happening in a year.

Supervisor Terry L. Jones said last year that the rain was one of the township’s worst flooding events since 1972. More than 6 inches of rainwater resulted from a few hours of torrential rain on July 11.

Public Works Maintenance Superintendent Patrick Moore said the storm separated 10 to 12 feet of pipe at the flooded site.

“The storm separated the pipes, which is why it took three hours for the water to drain away,” said Moore in July.

Jones said the slow drainage was also due to the lack of drainage openings in the New Jersey Concrete Safety Shape Barriers that separate the westbound and eastbound lanes.

Zoning board appointment

The board unanimously appointed Nicholas T. Fretz to fill the vacant seat on the zoning hearing board.

Fretz is a township resident and manager of the Perkasie Regional Authority, Bucks County.

Board Chairperson Kimberly J. McGrath said the board interviewed four qualified applicants on Feb. 19, selecting Fretz to fill the seat, which expires on Dec. 31, 2022.