Plum's stormwater task force has vacancies to fill to move forward with ongoing work

Plum’s stormwater management task force has two spots available for residents interested in helping address flooding problems.

Rick Vigno and chairman Carlos Escalante recently resigned from their appointed posts.

Letters of interest can be sent to the borough office, 4575 New Texas Road, or apply online at link.plumboro.com/stormapp.

A deadline for applications was not announced. However, council plans to approve the new members at next month’s voting session.

The next task force meeting is set for July 23.

Task force sessions are closed to the public. However, meeting minutes and other related information is posted to the borough’s website under the “stormwater management” tab.

“We have been working on trying to set up and establish a venue where we can bring the public in to disseminate a lot of the information that the stormwater task force has been working on over the last six months,” council President Dave Odom said. “We intended to have a public forum. Unfortunately, covid-19 happened.”

The task force was formed in January in response to the severe flooding throughout Allegheny County on July 21-22, 2019.

“The impact of that event was extremely difficult and painful for a number of Plum residents, and it was emotionally and financially devastating,” Odom said.

The task force has had discussions with engineers about possible flooding solutions.

But a number of fixes also have occurred since last July’s flooding.

That work entailed replacing about 115 feet of a 15-inch pipe along Impala Drive, installing about 68 feet of an 18-inch pipe along Jackson Road, and replacing 80 feet of a 15-inch pipe at Bar Harbor and Arcadia drives.

Public works crews also repaired 12 stormwater inlets in the Rustic Ridge area and installed 80 feet of six-inch drainage pipes in Woodlawn Estates.

More information about those and other task force projects can be found in the meeting minutes.