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Candidate Tricia Mezzacappa has made no secret of her position regarding West Easton obtaining grants.

She is against grants. Her running mate, Councilman Tom Nodoline, running for re-election this year, has so far remained quiet on the subject.

At the March 13th Council Meeting, Mezzacappa stated that West Easton should not apply for grants “because it’s taxpayer’s money.”

When Council President Dan DePaul repeated her statement, struck in awe as we all were, and tried to explain that grants come from Federal taxes that are redistributed to States for the purpose of issuing grants, Mezzacappa’s replied, “So much for free grant money!”

At the March 27th meeting, she voiced her objection to a grant obtained to alleviate the problem residents on the south side of 2nd Street are dealing with. Residents suffer flooded basements, heaved sidewalks, and sinking steps due to the massive amount of water that gathers from multiple blocks in Wilson Borough. That water joins in a torrent that overflows curbs and up an ADA sidewalk ramp, especially during heavy rains.

She doesn’t believe there is a problem that needs to be fixed, she told Council, but if there is, residents should pay for it.

Her statement, “Maybe people should take care of their own properties” may not sit well with those residents, some of whom have already spent their own money repairing walks and curbs. Others are hesitant to put out money for repairs. They are concerned the work performed will be compromised. They are rightly upset, especially when it was the State and the Borough that exacerbated the problem for them.

The State, when resurfacing Iron Street years earlier, created a “hump” at 2nd and Iron Streets, causing much of the water to divert down 2nd instead of continuing down the hill, on Iron.

Residents affected by that newly created hump coped. They coped again when more water onto the sidewalk had become a problem after a dip in the road at Keystone Ave. was removed. That dip created a channel that helped keep water in the street. Without the dip, water became a major problem for them only during heavy rains, as the raised curbs at corners kept much of the water in the street.

It got far worse for them a couple of years ago when the former engineering firm chose to install ADA ramps right at the corners of the intersection of 2nd and Keystone, rather than a few feet back from the corners. The ADA ramps could have been installed as far as 12 feet from the corners and still been in compliance, the 2016 Council later discovered after taking office.

In 2014, when ADA ramps were installed at the corners of 2nd and Keystone, the former engineering firm failed to listen to 2nd Street residents concerns about the amount of water that comes down the street. A ramp at that corner of 2nd Street would offer no resistance to water coming onto the sidewalk, resident Nancy Stout had told the engineer the day she saw them preparing to install the ramp. “Don’t worry about it,” was the response from the engineer, she says. “He blew me off and didn’t care,” she added.

Winter brings little relief. Ice becomes a problem during thaws and refreezing of melted snow. Water that pools in one area on Keystone Avenue makes keeping that corner free of ice impossible. A hazard to those that can walk without difficulty, not to mention impassable for those with a disability. The water rises onto the ramp itself, because it is below the level of the roadway. Snow mounds create a dam, making the melt-off even higher before freezing again overnight on the ramp.

George Illick, the owner of the property where that ramp is located fights a non-winnable battle against ice every winter. “I told those [  ] that the ramp was below the street when I saw the forms set. You could look at it and see it,” he said.

Now, a light rain can result in a problem for them. Even a half-open hydrant from as far away as the Avona Elementary School sends water to these residents and up onto the sidewalk.

Hydrant water from Wilson is something I’ve witnessed before and yesterday was no exception. This time I took pictures, so that everyone understands the need for the Borough to correct the problem.

And we obtained a grant to do it. $125,400 worth of grant money that won’t come from the General Fund, or Liquid Fuels account.

This grant happens to come from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program – monies distributed from the County after the approval of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The County reviews applications from all communities that apply for a grant under the program, choosing those they determine most in need. HUD just approved West Easton to proceed.

Other grants from different sources are out there and the competition is fierce among communities seeking to save their own community from underwriting the full cost of a project. The ADA ramps, a requirement of Federal law, were put in with a grant. Installation of ramps is far from being completed in West Easton.

Would Ms. Mezzacappa have those residents who live on corners, put in the ADA ramps at their own expense? After all, residents are responsible for their own sidewalks, as part of their property responsibilities. At $10,000 a pop for engineering fees, labor, and materials, corner lot owners might hope the Borough will continue seeking grants.

Or, because she doesn’t believe in grants, West Easton residents should willingly burden the expense of an ADA ramp at every corner, or other projects to improve our borough?

I don’t dispute that most grants come about from taxpayer money. Part of our taxes to the State and Federal governments is destined for grants to help communities like our own and others, but it is literally pennies on every dollar we pay in taxes.

Since we pay into those grants West Easton should do all it can to get a return of that money to help fund the needs of our borough. If West Easton doesn’t seek grants that money will just be given to a community smart enough to apply for them.

If fixing a storm water problem costs the borough $20,000, or even $30,000 in engineering fees, it’s a far cry better than spending $145,000, or $155,000 from the general fund. And as a community, we don’t abandon one area in need because correcting a situation in that area is more expensive than other areas.

Grants need to continue being sought. For every dollar received from a grant it is one less dollar that has to be spent out of our own General Fund.

Currently the Grants Committee will continue seeking grants to help residents and the community from bearing the full expense of its needs. Police equipment, a public works building, streets, safety improvements, lighting, even a grant for repairing sidewalks of those with moderate and low incomes is being investigated.

We may not get all we apply for, but we should never stop trying to get a share of the pie that is available.

The images below are those taken yesterday. The water is from a fire hydrant in Wilson Borough, located all the way up at Avona Elementary School. The hydrant was only partially open and the water depth was approximately 1/4 inch during it’s travel, but it still managed to get on walkways. Imagine a rain that produces 4″ or more of water depth that looks like a small river by the time all of it reaches 2nd Street from multiple streets above it. Then, imagine the amount of water that goes up that ADA ramp, onto properties, and into basements – or undermines walkway foundations.