Pike
County administers a Dirt & Gravel Road maintenance
program for Municipalities. A 4-member
Quality Assurance Board reviews project proposals and
awards money to local municipalities and/or state
agencies with jurisdictions over dirt and gravel roads.
This program is funded through the PA State Conservation
Commission to provide “safe,
efficient, and environmentally sound maintenance of
sections of Dirt and Gravel Roads identified as sources
of dust and sediment pollution
to waterways.”
The State
Conservation Commission adopted the following policy
regarding training for municipalities and other grant
recipients: Effective January 1, 2006 at least one
person representing the entity that has applied for
funds from the Dirt and Gravel Road Maintenance Program
must have attended environmentally sensitive maintenance
training for dirt and gravel roads within the past five
(5) calendar years. A municipality may not
submit an application if it does not have at least one
person who has attended the training within 5 years of
the date of an application.
The District’s Quality Assurance Board (QAB) reviews applications for funding under the
Dirt and Gravel Road Maintenance Program. All municipally-owned dirt and gravel
roads that are impacting streams or other water
resources are eligible for the program as long as at
least one person representing the municipality has
attended environmentally sensitive maintenance training
for dirt and gravel roads within the past 5 calendar
years.
2012
Dirt & Gravel Road Grant
Application
Interested
municipal officials can contact the District office for
further details. For a schedule of training events and
program information visit the Pennsylvania
Center for Dirt and Gravel Road Studies.
To register for an upcoming ESM training or more
information on the trainings, contact Kathy Moir of the
Dirt and Gravel Program at
1-866-668-6683
or e-mail at dirtandgravel@psu.edu.
The Center for Dirt and Gravel
Road Studies
Below is a summary of Dirt
and Gravel Road Program accomplishments within Pike
County since 1998 including locations of the projects,
project costs, and materials utilized.
Pike County Dirt and Gravel Road
Program Summary since 1998
PIKE COUNTY STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PLAN - Public Hearing
The Pike County Commissioners held a Public Hearing on
Wednesday, September 22, 2010 for the purpose of receiving
public comment on the
Draft Pike County Stormwater Management Plan.
Comments received on the Draft Plan are currently under
review.
The Draft Plan has been developed in accordance with the
Pennsylvania Stormwater Management Act, P.L. 864 No. 167,
1978 in order to maintain or decrease current flood levels
by managing accelerated runoff from future development,
prevent damage to stream banks, improve water quality, and
increase groundwater infiltration. The Pike County
Stormwater Management Plan will affect all Pike County
municipalities.
The Draft Plan provides the goals and limitations of the
study; a summary of identified stormwater problems and
concerns; a summary of existing municipal regulations;
watershed protection criteria for stormwater management;
adoption, implementation and update procedures; and a
Model Municipal Stormwater Management
Ordinance
All affected municipal governing bodies have been provided
with a copy of the Draft Plan. In addition, copies of the
documents are available for review and/or purchase at cost
Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM at the Pike
County Conservation District office, 556 Route 402, Blooming
Grove, PA 18428. The Draft Plan is also available for
review at the office of the County Commissioners, 506 Broad
Street, Milford, PA 18337. Anyone in need of additional
information on this matter may contact Susan Beecher,
Executive Director, Pike County Conservation District at
(570) 226-8220.
Pennsylvania Act 167, The Stormwater Management Act,
mandates that each county shall prepare and adopt a
watershed stormwater management plan for each watershed
located in the county as designated by the department,
in consultation with the municipalities located within
each watershed, and shall periodically review and revise
such plan at least every five years. There are
seven such designated watersheds in Pike County: Shohola
Creek, Bushkill Creek, Wallenpaupack Creek, Lackawaxen
River, Sawkill Creek, Delaware River (land areas in Pike
County with direct drainage to the River) and Brodhead
Creek. Act 167 Plans for several of these watersheds
developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s are in need
of updating. Currently, the only up to date plan is
that for Brodhead Creek, recently adopted by Monroe
County.
Since May 2007 Pike County Commissioners,
in cooperation with the District, DEP, a local advisory
committee and consultant HRG, have been working on a
stormwater management plan for Pike County. The process
was temporarily put on hold as the County waited for
State budget issues to be resolved. In the final budget
for Fiscal Year 2009-10, funding for the Act 167 program
was cut in its entirety, impacting over 40 plans in
various stages of completion statewide. The situation
is not expected to improve for FY 2010-11. While this
will have an impact on the Pike County contract with DEP
for the County’s Stormwater Management Plan and the
timing of completing some elements of the Plan, it will
not prevent the County from completing the Plan per the
scope of work outlined for the project.
Use of prior years’ funds remaining in
the Act 167 program will provide the County with State
funding through June 30, 2010, when DEP expects to end
its contract with the County. DEP funds which were
contracted for FY 2010-2011 for the County’s Plan in all
likelihood would not be available. However, recognizing
the importance of continuing this effort, the County was
able to identify grant funding from an alternative
source which will make up the difference and allow for
completion of the Plan.
Prior to June 30th, the County expects to
deliver to DEP a draft Stormwater Management Plan and
Model Ordinance. A number of work elements, including
incorporation of DEP comments, holding a public hearing
on the draft Plan, finalization of the Plan for County
adoption and implementation workshops, will happen after
that time but still within the originally envisioned
completion time frame ending June 30, 2011.
This stormwater management planning initiative is being
undertaken in two phases: Phase I, the preparation of a
scope of study, has been completed. To view a copy
of the Phase I report,
click here
. Phase II, the actual plan
preparation, is currently underway.
