Flooded Properties and Frustration: Castanea Residents Slam Lack of Communication Over Continuous Flooding Issues and Demand Answers at LH City Council Meeting

By Emily Wright

LOCK HAVEN– During its regular biweekly meeting Monday night, the Lock Haven City Council heard from Castanea residents who are still facing water-related issues, including long-standing leaks that have caused significant flooding and damage to their property. Castanea residents also underscored that there has been a lack of communication about the ongoing water woes from the city and water department.

Castanea resident and property owner Brady Carnahan addressed the council for the third time about water issues he is experiencing on Mackey Avenue. Carnahan reported that there is still water coming down Mackey Avenue and mentioned that when the water department came to his residence in recent weeks, they dug out a part of Keller Street that extended into his yard.

“They basically filled the streets, but I still have a significant hole in my yard, so I was just curious: Am I to take care of that, or does the water department take care of that? Who takes care of it?” Carnahan questioned. “It’s four foot by three foot, by 16 inches deep, and honestly, I wouldn’t even think about it, but it is literally right next to the road, and before we came here this evening, there were kids riding bicycles up and down the road, so it’s just a little concerning.”

In response, City Manager Greg Wilson stated, “The water department will take care of it.”

Bill Mantle, also from Castanea, addressed the council. “For the last 20 years, the water company has basically made my property useless,” he asserted. ”Two weeks ago, a [water main] break happened behind my house, and it flooded my house; it flooded my whole yard. I couldn’t mow my lawn, and I couldn’t let my dogs out,” he said.

Mantle reported that a pipe down the road from his residence was releasing over one gallon of water every minute. “That’s 1,440 gallons a day… that’s 43,000 gallons a month, and they knew that water leak was there. My wife and other people called them and told them there was a bad leak, but they left water running into my house for two weeks,” Mantle said.

As of Monday, June 3, Mantle reported that the water department found the source of the leak and stopped it within a half hour. “I just don’t understand it; isn’t the water company’s job to find and detect leaks?” he questioned. “If there was 43,000 gallons coming out of a pipe that big, can you imagine what was pouring into the back of my house? I don’t understand… This has been going on for 20 years; every year, we can’t mow our lawn,” he said. “It got to be such a joke that there were people putting rubber ducks in my yard– and it’s not funny.”

Mantle and his wife questioned why they’d been continually disregarded by the city and the water department about the flooding issue, and Mantle further questioned who is responsible for locating the leak and why they allowed his property to be flooded for two weeks after it had been reported by he and his wife. Mantle further asserted that he’d made as many as 100 phone calls to the water department to get their attention but was never contacted in return. “Now we’re trying to get ahold of the TV stations or whoever we can get ahold of to help us,” he said. “You’ve got to fix the leaks when they happen, not a month afterward.”

In response to Mantle’s statements, City Manager Greg Wilson said he would talk to a water department representative to “get some more information.”

Diana Andrus of Grape Street in Castanea addressed the council about a similar water situation on her property. “It’s been going on for 15 to 18 years; it comes and goes,” she said. “What happens is when the water main breaks on Grape Street, for whatever reason, it follows the trench into our electrical box,” she said. “The same thing happens; we can’t use our yard because water just pours out like a little waterfall, and we’ve talked about clearing it out and putting in goldfish and things like that– that’s how much there is at times,” she added. Andrus also reported that she recently saw water coming out of the electrical box near her residence and that it’s not an uncommon occurrence. Andrus called the water department recently about this and was told that the source of the water could not be found.

With no resolve in sight, Andrus and her husband took the matter into their own hands and installed a pipe to divert the water away from their property after getting permission to do so. “We diverted the water. We captured and diverted your city water and drained it down into a swale that goes in a ditch and then into the Bald Eagle Creek,” she said. “Now it looks nice, and the ground is dried up because we’ve been capturing and diverting city water. Our yard is dry, so I’m happy… but I’m on a water restriction, and I can’t wash my car or use water from the hose or pressure wash my house, and yet it’s just running free”.

Jason Walker, a resident of Mackey Avenue, said during the meeting that he’d been in contact with Mayor Joel Long and council member Heather Alexander, who visited his property to see the water issue he’s experiencing. “I share the same concern as the rest of the group. My yard is essentially useless in parts. I welcome any of you to come and look at it,” he said. “I also share the same issue with my dogs; every time they go out, they come back in a mess,” he said. “It’s a huge inconvenience. I’m sure that if that occurrence were on any of your properties, it would be a whole different story and I think probably one of the main issues is that we hear nothing. I called the water department the last time, and I left a message for Mr. Stopper, but there’s no communication at all. We don’t know whether anybody’s been there or ignored us, so that could be part of the problem,” Walker emphasized.

City council members discussed the procedure for fixing these issues and the protocol when a resident calls to report a leak on their property. “I will talk to the utility clerk about calling people back,” Wilson said. “Basically, work orders come back, they get loaded in by the utility clerk. The majority of work orders are not for water leaks but for other customer issues such as meters,” he added. Wilson assured that when leak detection is done, residents should be notified of what work was done to fix the issue.

“We should have an established protocol for a follow-up. I know if I had something at my house, I would want to know if work was done or what work was not done,” council member Brinker asserted. “Communication is huge, and if you communicate with us, we should communicate back,” he said.

“I think we need something from the water company about what’s going on over there because I have gotten numerous messages. I’ve been over there and have taken a look at the situation,” Mayor Joel Lond said. “There is something going on, whatever that is, and they are our customers; they don’t live in the city, but they are still our customers. They pay their bill, and they deserve some answers as to what’s going on”.

Greg Wilson reported that leak detection had been completed around 221 and 222 Mackey Avenue. “There is no water main going down that street, so there can’t be a water main break when there is no water on that street. The adjoining streets have water mains,” he said.

According to Wilson, the water department has done leak detection “all the way up and down those streets,” and the city has since sought outside help to find the source of the water in Castanea. “Beech Creek has come down and listened as well, and they did not detect it, but they are writing a report of that, so when that report is received, we’ll know exactly where they listened, and we’ll have certified documents from that– that they did not find leaks there,” Wilson said.

Mayor Long acknowledged that the water is coming from somewhere, and regardless of the location, it needs to be resolved. “We need to figure out where it’s coming from because we’re telling everybody not to use water, but we’re losing water,” he said.

“We are not currently telling them not to use water,” Wilson declared. “That water emergency was ended.”

Mayor Joel Long said in response, “Either way if we’re not now, we could find ourselves in that situation again because we’re losing water, and we should be fixing the problem,” he said. “We’ve got to find out where this is because it’s been going on for a long time.”

In an attempt to find a solution, Vice President Steve Stevenson suggested that the city reach out to a specialist who can assess the water table and also the flow of water into the area. He added that some of it is likely city water but that an expert might be helpful in figuring out the root cause of the ongoing flooding.

“It is a problem and we should be trying to figure out what’s going on and where it’s coming from. If it’s not our fault, then we need to be able to show that it’s not our fault,” Mayor Joel Long added.

“We need to step up our game a little bit to try and come to some solution,” Stevenson affirmed.

“I think what the message here is is that the worst thing is that there’s water getting out, and it’s affecting people’s properties, but what is frustrating is that it’s not just one person; it’s several. So, there’s an issue that needs to be dealt with as far as communication.”

“I think I agreed with that 15 or 20 minutes ago,” Wilson replied.

“People ask us, and we need to be able to answer their questions. So, when they ask a question, they’re just trying to get us to clarify so that they understand. Not everybody calls you, Greg; they call us and yell at us too. So, if somebody’s asking a question, it’s because they’re trying to understand,” Mayor Long said.

Council Member Heather Alexander mentioned that the biggest red flag she’s seen recently is that water is pooling around an electrical pole. “To me, that’s a hazard waiting to happen.”

Mayor Long concluded the discussion around the water issues in Castanea by acknowledging that through the discussion during Monday night’s meeting, the city council has gained some direction in terms of resolving the ongoing problem.