Scranton council advances countywide stormwater MOU, approves $425,080 grant for Fawn Woods improvements

The Scranton City Council on May 27 introduced an intergovernmental memorandum of understanding with Lackawanna County for a countywide stormwater management plan and advanced two local flood- and stormwater-related measures, including final approval of a $425,080 grant application for the Fawn Woods stormwater improvement project.

The grant resolution — authorizing the City to submit an application to the Pennsylvania Small Water and Sewer Program for $425,080 to fund phase 2 of the Fawn Woods project — was brought before council for adoption and passed on a roll-call vote. Council members King, Shuster, McAndrew and Smearle voted yes on the measure. The council also introduced, for committee consideration, an ordinance to acquire temporary and permanent easements needed to complete Group 4 of the Kaiser Valley flood protection project and a resolution to ratify and approve an intergovernmental agreement and memorandum of understanding with Lackawanna County on a countywide stormwater management plan.

The introductions for the easement ordinance and the countywide stormwater MOU were made by motion and approved for referral to the appropriate committee; no final votes on those items occurred at the meeting. The easement ordinance language includes authorization to pursue acquisition by easement, deed in lieu of condemnation or otherwise, and authorizes filing a declaration of taking pursuant to Section 302 of the eminent domain code if required.

Public comment at the meeting underscored local interest in stormwater planning. Resident Joan O'Brien said the effort was overdue and urged action: "This stormwater management plan is long overdue. And hopefully, it'll take off like a bat out of hell. We need it." When asked by Council whether a county authority could end up assuming regional responsibility, speakers at the meeting did not provide a definitive answer; a council member noted that city staff inquiries on stormwater are routed to Eileen Cipriani, identified in the meeting as the city point of contact for stormwater questions.

What passed on May 27 was the city resolution authorizing submission of the Fawn Woods grant application; the intergovernmental MOU and the Kaiser Valley easement ordinance were only introduced and sent to committee. Further committee review and subsequent council votes will be required before the MOU takes effect or easements are acquired.

Next steps: the introduced MOU and the easement ordinance will move through their assigned committees for review. The grant application for Fawn Woods has been authorized for submission, and any award of funds will trigger follow-up implementation steps and likely additional council approvals.