Derry Township looks to complete 1 stormwater pond, open bids for 2nd

Derry Township expects this spring to complete construction of a retention pond next to the Eastern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center while planning another nearby to help control flooding along Sulphur Run in the township and neighboring Latrobe.

Once completed, the pond near the CTC will take in stormwater from a 93-acre area, according to township Supervisor Dave Slifka.

“That’s pretty big,” he said. “We’re doing our part. In two weeks, we’ll be done with the major part of the drainage.”

RJF Development Corp. of Salem originally was awarded a contract totaling $391,606 to complete the work, but Slifka said the township expects to save about $15,000 by relocating one drainage pipe serving the pond.

“Originally, it was designed to go along Meadow Drive in front of everybody’s houses,” he said.

“We were able to change it to go in the grass behind those houses. We won’t have to tear the road up, and we’ll cross less utilities.”

The state Department of Environmental Protection has approved the revised pipe alignment, Slifka said. Because it is encroaching on the border of the CTC property, a temporary easement is required from the center’s three member school districts — Derry Area, Greater Latrobe and Ligonier Valley.

To help pay for the project, the township is using a $250,000 state grant, derived from fines levied for permit violations during construction of the Mariner East II natural gas pipeline.

Slifka said the supervisors are hoping to tap pandemic recovery money the township is receiving to cover more of the project costs.

The supervisors next week are scheduled to open bids for a smaller nearby stormwater pond that would drain a 30-acre area near Penn Avenue.

Additionally, Slifka said, the Army Corps of Engineers has given the OK for a hydrologic and hydraulic study that could identify other measures for controlling stormwater along Sulphur Run.

Heavy rainfall on June 20, 2018, triggered flooding of the stream that damaged businesses at the Lincoln Road Plaza and on adjacent Josephine Street in Latrobe, as well as a nearby church. Since then, the city and the plaza owner have made repairs and improvements to stormwater infrastructure where the flooding occurred.