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Parkersburg officials outline stormwater plans

Mayor Tom Joyce, left, spoke during a meeting of Parkersburg City Council’s Stormwater Committee on Tuesday at the Municipal Building as City Engineer Adam Stout, middle, and Public Works Director Everett Shears listen. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

PARKERSBURG — In 2021, the City of Parkersburg spent $645,940 to reline more than 4,400 feet of storm sewer pipes and install an underground retention system at City Park as part of ongoing efforts to improve its stormwater network.

“There are 390,000 feet of storm sewers in Parkersburg,” City Engineer Adam Stout told members of Parkersburg City Council’s Stormwater Committee this week. “We made some good strides last year.”

The committee met Tuesday to get an update on last year’s work and the administration’s proposals for how approximately $1.5 million allocated to the efforts, including $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds, will be spent.

The City Park retention system was completed in April and can hold up to 10,000 gallons of water during heavy rain events and release it slowly.

“We’ve heard some pretty good things in the area, saying it’s helped reduce flooding,” Stout said.

It’s the second such system the city installed, after one at a vacant city-owned lot on 20th Street. A notice to proceed was given for a third in the Beechwood area, but the $320,500 project has been delayed due to difficulty obtaining materials.

“We couldn’t get pipe. They couldn’t get pump controllers,” Stout said.

Contractor Allen Stone Company is optimistic the work can begin in May.

With those funds allocated, the city still has $480,294 budgeted for stormwater contractual services, plus $54,500 for capital improvements. Council recently approved using $1 million in ARPA money for stormwater improvements.

“This is the most money that we’ve ever had to work with,” Stout said.

The first priority is rebuilding and relocating the storm sewer at Broadway Avenue from beneath the sidewalk to the median. It will also add additional inlets to get the water into the system. Now, it tends to sit on the surface and damage the road, Stout said.

“Broadway Avenue is ridiculously flat,” he said. “(The water) really has nowhere to go.”

The project will include 2,145 feet of new storm sewer pipe, as much of the existing system is too damaged or blocked to repair. Those pipes will be removed or crushed in place, creating the need for new sidewalks.

The work will be done in conjunction with replacement of water lines by the Parkersburg Utility Board. Once both of those projects are complete, the city will repave the road, something residents and council members have been requesting for years.

With bids due to be opened this week and prices on many projects rising, it’s not known how much the Broadway Avenue work will cost. Once that’s determined, the remaining funds will be applied to relining storm sewers identified as the highest priority, based on their proximity to houses, condition and whether it’s a main or secondary line.

“Hopefully we can get the worst ones lined so we don’t end up buying somebody’s house,” Mayor Tom Joyce said.

Stout said lining the sewers “is the biggest bang for the buck to remediate deteriorating systems in hard-to-access places.”

It’s not known how much lining the city will be able to do at this point, but Stout said there are about 12,000 feet of “top-rated candidates” at this point. The total estimated cost is more than $2 million, so even without the Broadway Avenue project, it wouldn’t all be done in the immediate future.

Individual cost estimates range from $9,517 for 72 feet of an 18-inch line at Lulu Street and Staunton Avenue to $260,941 at City Park.

Stormwater issues will also be addressed by the installation of a weir, a small dam, to divert runoff from Pond Run that’s going to the floodwall’s 34th Street pumping station. Installed by the city in the ’90s, the ditch sends additional water during rain events, keeping the pump station’s motors running constantly, Stout said.

“It’s just a matter of time before the motors go out on it,” he said.

That project is slated to be bid in late April, with work starting in May.

A planned dredging of Pond Run is set for bid in May, with work to start in August. The project will clear vegetation and sediment built up in the stream that impedes the flow of water and causes it to back up.

Both of these projects will be funded from the floodwall budget in the current fiscal year, Stout said.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.

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