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Port Jervis resident urges city action after repeated basement flooding
Summary
Laura Meyer of Port Jervis' 3rd Ward told the council she has suffered repeated basement flooding linked to historic buried streams and called for the city to act; she said a previously discussed retention-pond site on North Orange Street is under consideration and asked what protections or costs residents should expect.
Laura Meyer, a Port Jervis resident in the city's 3rd Ward, told the City Council during public comment that her home has suffered repeated basement flooding and called on the city to take protective action. Meyer said historic decisions to bury streams under 24-inch storm sewer pipes placed a storm drain on her Lincoln Street property.
Meyer described the history in detail: she said Hurricane Diane in 1955 led to burying local brooks in 1956 and that, after she bought her house in December 2010 and moved in August 2011, Hurricane Irene struck two weeks later and "we had 6 feet of water in our basement," destroying belongings and new fixtures. She said a subsequent similar storm caused additional damage.
Meyer said that, when Jack Farr became director of the Department of Public Works, he convened a special meeting of affected residents and proposed creating a retention pond and replacing the 24-inch pipes with larger ones. According to Meyer, residents initially supported such remedies but many neighbors later opposed them because gardens, driveways, pools and portions of garages would be affected.
She said she and her husband took repeated steps to reduce flooding on their property, including removing a garage, filling in a driveway, removing trees, importing soil and installing curbing, but that the storm drain remains on their property and the city had previously treated the problem as their responsibility.
Meyer told the council the parcel on North Orange Street discussed at the prior meeting had been identified as a possible site for a retention pond and asked specifically what the city's next steps are to protect her and her neighbors, how much residents can expect to pay when flooding recurs, and why homeowners insurance covered none of their losses.
The council acknowledged Meyer's comments but took no immediate action on the flooding concerns during the public portion of the meeting; the next item was a motion to enter an executive session on unrelated personnel and police matters.
Provenance: The account above is drawn from Meyer's public comment to the council (transcript beginning SEG 032 through SEG 081).
