Narberth infrastructure committee backs Windell Road stormwater bump outs, asks engineers to refine placement after resident concerns

The Narberth Borough infrastructure committee voted May 26 to recommend moving forward with two stormwater “bump outs” on Windell Road (and a related item near Shady Lane) to help the borough meet state MS4 sediment‑reduction requirements, but members required engineers to revisit exact placement after residents raised safety and parking concerns.

Borough manager Maggie Gallops said the state’s MS4 (municipal separate storm sewer) permit requires the borough to reduce sediment loads in the regulated watershed but provides no implementation funding. “We worked with our engineers at Pinoni to come up with the best thing that we can do given our limited land mass,” Gallops said, describing a master list of roughly 31 proposed sites and noting the borough has completed eight bump outs to date; the two proposed would bring the total to about ten.

Why it matters: Narberth’s permitted pollutant‑reduction plan assigns credit values to different facility types, and staff said the Windell/Shady locations are estimated to yield substantial credit toward the borough’s aggregate reduction target. Tony Carlozzi, the engineer on the project, said the two Windell bump outs match prior installations in design and materials and that DEP’s crediting calculations make these sites cost‑effective candidates for grant funding.

Residents pressed the committee on several fronts. Betty Kennedy (94 Windell Road) asked whether existing granite curb would be disturbed and whether increased infiltration at the bump out could send water into her cellar; the engineer said contractors are responsible for replacing damaged curb and staff do not expect cellar flooding. Peter Schmidt and Rob Gunther raised concerns about trash‑truck turning paths, regular truck strikes to front yard features, and long‑term maintenance; Gunther said some existing bump outs are “not well maintained” and litter accumulates.

Several residents worried about parking loss and emergency access on Windell, a street several commenters described as having a single egress. Online commenter Marybeth Macaulay said an earlier family emergency was delayed by parked vehicles and urged the committee not to select Windell solely for reimbursement prospects. “We have no other way off our street,” she said.

On cost and scale, the engineer said a typical bump‑out construction capital cost is roughly $30,000 (vegetation and ongoing planting have been handled by public works and are not included in that construction figure). Committee members noted the borough’s Capital Improvement Plan currently budgets about $105,000 a year for ongoing implementation and that staff must balance construction rollout with maintenance capacity.

Action and next steps: Vice Chair Michael Adaney moved that the committee recommend Windell as an implementation location; the committee amended the recommendation to make it explicitly “subject to reconsideration of specific location pending the engineer’s review.” The committee approved forwarding the design plan and recommendation to borough council with that condition; council approval and an additional public hearing will be required before construction begins.

The committee and staff committed to publishing the pollutant reduction plan crediting table and an updated status report (what’s complete and what remains) on the borough MS4 webpage, and to ask Pinoni to evaluate alternative placements and spacing to address residents’ safety and emergency‑access concerns.

What remains unresolved: Residents’ safety and parking concerns were noted and will be re‑examined in the engineering review; the committee did not cancel the project but required specific placement refinements. Council must approve final plans and any construction schedule.