Southwest Butler stormwater project completes section in Harmony
On Thursday, April 23, county commissioners and officials from Harmony and Jackson Township gathered at Union Brothers Brewing to commemorate recently completed stormwater improvements on nearby Mercer Street.
Following the ceremony, officials took a tour of the site.
The project is intended to direct stormwater along Mercer Street to outfalls on Connoquenessing Creek, according to Chris Rearick, Jackson Township manager.
Rearick said the project also ties in drainage from Swampoodle, a 41-acre area in Jackson Township between Connoquenessing Valley Elementary School and Spring Street.
“Harmony had some pipes that were undersized, old, beyond life,” said Ben Gilberti, assistant vice president of Herbert, Rowland & Grubic’s Pittsburgh operations. “Through ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funding, Harmony was able to develop a system, improve those.”
The borough is a low spot near Connoquenessing Creek and prone to flooding. Gilberti said the solutions to its problem were not in Harmony, but in Jackson Township and Zelienople.
The completed segment is part of an ongoing 2024-29 Capital Improvement Plan, which is a regional collaboration between nine municipalities to look at stormwater from a watershed rather than a municipal basis, said Gilberti.
The series of projects are supported by funds from ARPA, of which $2.6 million was reallocated for Harmony.
Out of the nine municipalities involved in the capital improvement plan, four — Evans City, Zelienople, Harmony and Jackson Township — formed the Southwest Butler Stormwater Authority. The authority charges stormwater user fees based on the amount of impervious areas on a property. The money raised from fees is intended to directly fund future projects drawn up to address stormwater issues in the municipalities, said Gilberti.
“Everyone was able to work together to find some partnerships to work with property owners here,” said Gilberti.
Improved drainage from nearby German Street in Jackson Township to Connoquenessing Creek will be worked on later this summer.
Planned updates to Swampoodle will provide additional water retainage and are pending permits from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, said Gilberti.
Plans call for Swampoodle, which was purchased by the township in 2024, to be developed into a stormwater management or a mixed use recreation facility to help catch water higher in the watershed, Gilberti said.
