Resident questions water flow, trash near new basin

Staff say work not complete, mowing will be improved

A neighbor near one of Upper Gwynedd’s new retention basins told township officials Monday night that work there is not quite done yet.

Daren Gross of Hancock Place, the portion of Hancock Road adjacent to one of the three basins built this summer, asked the board a series of questions about whether the basins are functioning and maintained properly.

“The week of Aug. 14, I was on vacation, but the plants were cut. Why?” Gross asked.

Over the past two years, Upper Gwynedd and North Penn School District officials have discussed, planned and overseen the construction of three basins near the intersection of Hancock and North Wales roads that are meant to help the township meet runoff reduction requirements and reduce flooding.

One basin is located on Hancock south of nearby Pennbrook Middle School with a wooden walkway bordering it, a second north of the school near an athletic track, and the third across Hancock near several neighbors.

The third basin is the one Gross asked about Monday, and Township Engineer Russ Benner said the recent cut plants Gross saw were deliberately done.

“The plants that were cut were invasive species that weren’t part of the original landscaping of the basins,”

Benner said.

“The concern is that if we did not cut them, that they would essentially take over the basin, and really push out all of the seeding that was put in there to make it more of a natural basin,” he said.

Construction on the basins started in fall 2016, and were largely complete by June of this year, at which time Benner recommended adding more naturalized “plugs” of plant material meant to help speed up growth within the basin and hasten water retention.

Gross said Monday night that parts of the plants she had seen cut off recently had been left in the basin to rot, and had started to smell, and Benner said

that was not intended and his firm would ensure they were removed quickly.

“We were concerned when they came up that they were not part of the seed mixture that was planted in that basin. They were invasive species — for lack of a better term, weeds — and we were concerned because they can be very active, spread fast, and we wanted them cut down to make sure they would not take over” he said.

Gross said she was concerned about what would happen if the plant material were left there to decompose.

“Fortunately, we have caught a break with the weather being cool, because the plants aren’t rotting as much. It has stopped smelling, but it was starting to smell, with all of the scum and rotten material,” she said.

“We’ve now gone from calling it a pond to ‘The Swamp.’ I was out there just before I came here, and there is no water coming in the intake, but it is still as full of water as ever,” Gross said.

Benner said the contractor responsible for building the basins had added another drainage channel last week, but he and his firm are “still not happy with the work he has done.”

“He was notified today, by call and email, that it absolutely has to be corrected before we consider approving nay type of payment,” Benner said.

Gross said she also noticed last week that the grass outside the fence surrounding the basin was cut by township staff, but before it was cut the staff did not pick up several pieces of garbage there.

“None of the trash was picked up, and it has been mowed over. Now, instead of one plastic bag, there’s four or five parts,” she said.

Gross offered to show photos of the bags and other debris she said she had seen, and said she had not seen any teenagers or large groups congregating in that area.

Township Manager Len Perrone said staff should be checking the area and cleaning up trash before any mowing, and he would make sure they do so.

“The plain, simple truth of the matter is that’s on us. We have to do a better job of it,” he said.

Upper Gwynedd’s commissioners next meet at 7 p.m. on Sept. 19 at the township administration building, 1 Parkside Place. For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www.UpperGwynedd.org.