Norristown gets update on stormwater committee

Council considers issues with mitigation efforts; establishment of authority

NORRISTOWN >> The issues concerning stormwater in Norristown were a major concern for elected officials as a presentation Tuesday outlined necessary mitigation measures.

“We want to fix the problem, we want to fix the issues from a council standpoint and for the community at the end of the day,” said Norristown Municipal Council President Derrick Perry.

Municipal officials acknowledge the lack of an established program to deal with existing stormwater issues.

“We do not really have the system to fix the problems,” said Norristown’s Public Works Director Thomas Odenigbo. “When the problems occur we react to that.”

When asked about the costs associated with stormwater fixes, Municipal Administrator Crandall Jones called it a “break fix kind of approach,” which involved “pulling from the existing public works budget” as “there’s no dedicated stormwater budget per se.”

“In some instances because of the size of the problem it’s usually caused public works to go over budget in some areas where we had to deal with it and address it because it was a public safety issue involved,” Jones said.

Still, it’s top of mind for Norristown residents like Kurt Martin, who submitted a statement on the matter that was read aloud during the meeting’s public comment portion.

“Every year there is water rushing from the corner of Airy and Buttonwood, across Main down to the Schuylkill River and from Forest Avenue down Lafayette down to Buttonwood and Noble,” Martin said. “My street looks like Niagara Falls every year. My tax money should be spent on repairing this issue. I’m begging you to please fix this.”

Bruce Hulshizer, of Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc., a King of Prussia-based engineering