Four more Luzerne County flood buyouts authorized

Four more Luzerne County flood buyouts were authorized Tuesday by the county Flood Protection Authority — three in the West Nanticoke section of Plymouth Township and one in Hunlock Township.

Plymouth Township Supervisor Gale Conrad said the flood authority’s recent buyouts and those from other past programs have collectively resulted in 140 to 150 township structures demolished to get residents and businesses out of harm’s way.

The authority, which oversees the Wyoming Valley Levee system along the Susquehanna River, also voted Tuesday to earmark $666,000 toward the Brookside Levee rehabilitation project in Wilkes-Barre.

These projects are part of an ongoing, federally-funded flood mitigation program that is managed by the authority and linked to the levee-raising project completed in the early 2000s.

In May, five flood buyout properties were demolished through the mitigation program, said authority Deputy Director Laura Holbrook: a house on Italy Street in the Mocanaqua section of Conyngham Township and four structures on Route 11 in Plymouth Township — the former fire-damaged Flamingo Diner, the Riverview Inn, a multi-unit residential building and the past strip club known at different times as the Elite Club 4 Play Gentlemen’s Club, Carousel Club and Tilbury Inn.

Municipalities must agree to own and maintain buyout properties and keep them undeveloped.

The newly-authorized buyouts/demolitions — all residential — along with the total estimate to cover the appraisal, purchase, closing, hazardous material abatement, demolition and other costs associated with buyouts:

• 74-76 Allen St., West Nanticoke, $180,000.

• 12 South Mill St., West Nanticoke, $193,000.

• 390 E. Canal St., West Nanticoke, $125,000.

• 242-246 Route 11, Hunlock Creek, $257,000.

Once appraisals are completed, the owners will have the option to accept or deny the purchase offers, Holbrook said.

If all proceeds as planned, a demolition contractor will be retained at a future authority meeting to tear down the properties next spring, Holbrook said.

Conrad commended the authority for supporting buyouts. The Route 11 commercial properties recently demolished had become dilapidated and magnets for trespassers, she said.

“That’s a very good thing that it’s all over and done with,” Conrad said.

Properties demolished to date and in the upcoming buyout round have sustained repetitive flooding and continued flood insurance rate hikes, she said. While the tax base loss stings, township elected officials and the manager have worked as a team to keep finances on track, she said.

“The most important thing is for the folks to have the opportunity to relocate somewhere else to be safe,” Conrad said.

The Brookside Levee allocation approved Tuesday will help fund general construction and pump station electrical work estimated at approximately $1.16 million, Holbrook said.

This levee is impacted by Susquehanna River backwater flooding along Mill Creek and was determined to be freeboard deficient following updated hydraulic modeling of the river, the authority has said.

Flood insurance

Kingston officials attended Tuesday’s meeting seeking a status on efforts to alter new Federal Emergency Management Agency flood insurance maps that shifted more residents into a zone with higher rates.

As part of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers risk assessment of the Kingston-to-Exeter levee stretch, the authority and Army Corps agreed to complete an interior drainage study documenting all municipal stormwater infrastructure improvements that have been made in Kingston, Forty Fort and other communities along the levee reach, authority Executive Director Christopher Belleman has said.

This drainage study is necessary to ensure the levee risk assessment factors in the latest data. The authority split the cost of the drainage study with the Army Corps, with each paying approximately $95,000, Belleman had said.

The hope was that the study also may help reverse flood insurance increases in Kingston and other communities along the levee reach, he had said.

Kingston officials have argued the new flood insurance map ignored the borough’s own internal stormwater pump stations that prevent flooding.

FEMA said Tuesday the new flood maps took effect June 20.

The agency is aware of the pending Army Corps study of how water drains behind the levee, its communication said. Upon receipt of this updated information, FEMA will reevaluate this section of the flood map and issue a letter of map revision reflecting any changes, it said.

Holbrook said she expects the Army Corps will complete the drainage analysis by the end of the year.

Contract revision

The authority also voted Tuesday to approve a $46,465 change order with Solid Wall LLC for additional out-of-scope joint sealant work in its project to replace deteriorating expansion joints on the 1.46-mile levee stretch between the county courthouse and the intersection of Riverside Drive and Pickering Street in Wilkes-Barre.

This levee section contains nearly 21,000 linear feet of expansion joints that are two decades old and at the end of normal service life. The sealant-filled joints allow the levee concrete cover to expand and contract and prevent cracks.

The Army Corps had identified the joints as a deficiency in past levee inspections.

The authority had approved the original $158,000 contract with Solid Wall in March.

This work will be covered by county council’s February 2022 American Rescue Plan earmark of up to $8 million for flood authority projects.