More flooding discussions at recent Bridgeville council meeting

Even as the seasons start to change, one constant remains in Bridgeville — the problem with rain and subsequent flooding.

To kick off the Oct. 11 council meeting, Bob Fryer, former head of Bridgeville’s planning commission and current South Fayette resident, spoke extensively about his ideas for solutions to Bridgeville’s perennial flooding problems. Armed with a variety of diagrams and maps, Fryer was ready to address what he believes is the root problem of some of the borough’s flooding.

“It’s the culvert under Commercial Street that’s causing the problem,” Fryer said.

In previous meetings, the council has attempted to address this issue, with a variety of projects being proposed over the past several months in an attempt to control rainwater drainage.

Fryer advocated for “building a wall between the creek and Baldwin Street” to prevent floodwaters from spilling between the two.

The council acknowledged his extensive research and said they would look into additional flooding solutions.

“Rest assured, every water event we have in town, we learn from,” said council president William Henderson.

Along with this month’s discussion of flooding issues, the council passed all motions on their agenda unanimously, as well as three additional motions, which also passed unanimously.

Among the passed motions were two discussing the Newberry plan of lots. Under the newly-approved motions, Bridgeville will receive 20% of the tax revenue gained by this land, since 20% of the land is in Bridgeville. The remainder of the tax revenue and land belongs to South Fayette Township.

In addition to these long-awaited and praised agreements between Bridgeville and South Fayette, the council approved a motion to rezone a parcel of conservation land into residential land.

As explained by borough manager Joe Kauer, the land has been owned by the family of Roberta Walsh since the 1980s. In preparation to sell the land to a buyer interested in building a single-family home on the lot, Walsh did her due diligence and realized the land she was preparing to sell was not zoned for residential use. However, the sale is expected to move forward now that the council accepted the petition to rezone.

Subsequently, the remainder of the meeting featured promotions for upcoming community events.

According to Bridgeville Mayor Betty Copland, Halloween is planned as normal for this year with trick-or-treating to take place from 6-8 p.m. Oct. 31. There will be an additional trick-or-treating event on Oct. 28 in the local rail yard. The celebration will include passing out candy to local children, and volunteers are still needed for this event.

As the weather gets cooler, councilman Joe Colossimo, head of the Parks and Recreation Committee, said rental space in the parks — such as for birthday parties and other private events — will conclude for the season at the end of October.

Colossimo also informed residents that curbside leaf pick-up began on Oct. 11 and will continue until Nov. 10.