Our senior project manager Erin Letavic has been appointed by Governor Wolf to the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Science & Technical Advisory Committee. The Chesapeake Bay Program is the leading voice directing the restoration of our nation’s largest estuary for recreation, industry, and the environment. It advises state and federal agencies on policy and provides both funding and resources to entities working to improve water quality at the grassroots level. The program’s Scientific & Technical Advisory Committee ensures that the advice and resources it provides are scientifically sound. Members offer independent scientific and technical guidance, serve as a liaison to the region’s scientific community, and facilitate cooperation among research institutions and agencies within the watershed.
We believe Erin will be a great addition to this committee because of her broad-ranging knowledge and experience with Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts: She has two degrees – one in environmental engineering and the other in geology. She has more than 17 years of experience helping municipalities with MS4 permitting and compliance, and she leads HRG’s work as the coordinator for 13 counties currently participating in DEP’s Phase 3 WIP Countywide Action Plan program. She’s also an impaired streamside landowner herself and a passionate watershed advocate.
“I’m excited to bring my perspective as a practitioner and my experience on the ground to the committee. I want to give a program-level perspective on local implementation challenges, and I’m grateful that the governor and the Chesapeake Bay Program are giving me that opportunity.”
https://www.hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Letavic.jpg563750Judy Lincolnhttps://hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Primary-Logo-300x138.pngJudy Lincoln2021-12-10 09:52:132021-12-10 09:53:19Governor Appoints Letavic to Science & Technical Advisory Committee at Chesapeake Bay Program
It’s National Water Quality Month, and we’re sharing projects we’ve designed that help improve water quality in the communities we serve. Today, we’re profiling the West Caracas Avenue parking lot in Derry Township.
This 40,000 square foot parking lot includes 11,500 square feet of porous asphalt, which reduces the volume of stormwater runoff, prevents pollutants from entering the watershed, and promotes groundwater recharge.
What is porous pavement?
Porous pavement (a.k.a. pervious pavement) comes in many forms: concrete, asphalt, paver blocks, reinforced turf, recycled glass, and more. Traditional asphalt and concrete is densely packed with fine materials, but porous pavement uses coarser materials and a higher percentage of air voids in between these materials. A clean stone bed consisting of 1 inch to 3 inch stone with a high void ratio is installed below the porous surface to provide temporary runoff storage and allow for infiltration.
The space in between the coarser material provides a place for water to seep through to the soil underneath.
What are the advantages of porous pavement?
It can trap solids and pollutants that otherwise would’ve been carried to lakes and streams by stormwater collected in inlets. These pollutants seep through the pavement into a bed of rocks below, where they undergo the natural cleansing process that has purified our stormwater for hundreds of years before asphalt and concrete were invented.
It reduces stormwater runoff, thereby reducing the need for stormwater detention basins and stormwater infrastructure. Porous pavement allows the rain water to infiltrate the ground; therefore, it reduces the volume of stormwater runoff. This can reduce the number of inlets and storm pipes a client needs to be build (and reduce construction cost associated with that infrastructure).
See water infiltrate the porous pavement parking stalls almost immediately, while water collects on the conventional pavement outside the stall.
It can reduce flooding risks. Heavy rains can be absorbed into the ground instead of overloading inlets and detention basins.
It recharges the groundwater. Rain is absorbed back into the water supply, rather than being collected, stored and released from a detention basin.
It reduces the heat island effect of paved surfaces because air can circulate better through this material.
It reduces winter maintenance since the stone bed below the porous pavement tends to absorb and retain heat allowing snow to melt faster. So typically light snow and ice accumulation are handled with little to no maintenance.
What should you consider before investing in porous pavement?
It is coarser than traditional paving materials, but it is still fine enough to meet ADA standards and most people cannot tell the difference in appearance.
It must be carefully designed by engineers to work properly. The designer needs to know how quickly the soil beneath the pavement can absorb water (some soils absorb more quickly than others) and design the paving surface and stone bed accordingly. Otherwise, water can build up underneath the surface and can cause damage or surface flooding. Also, porous pavement is ideally suited for flatter surfaces to promote stormwater absorption and minimize the stone bed depth. On steeper surfaces benching or terracing of the stone bed is needed to maintain a reasonable stone bed depth and minimize excavation.
Maintenance requirements are different than they are for traditional pavement, depending on the material chosen. Certain materials require frequent vacuuming to prevent the voids or “pores” from being clogged. Sand or cinders should not be applied on or adjacent to porous pavement. More advanced materials – like elastomerically bound glass – have reduced maintenance needs.
Its strength rating is lower than traditional paving materials due to the increased air content. Therefore, it is not recommended for surfaces that will see heavy volumes of traffic or loading areas that will be frequented by large trucks. However, as the popularity of porous pavement continues to grow, many paving companies are developing higher strength materials.
What are the best uses for porous pavement?
Due to the lower strength of porous paving materials, it is best used for low-volume applications like:
Parking spaces
Residential alleys/roads
Residential driveways
Sidewalks and Walking paths
Tennis Courts
Derry Township chose to pursue porous pavement in the West Caracas Avenue parking lot to meet the requirements of its MS4 stormwater management program and reduce the possibility of flooding. The porous pavement and vegetative islands in the lot are designed to completely infiltrate the runoff from a 100-year storm event and reduce the amount of sediment, nitrogen and phosphorous entering the watershed. This helps the township meet its Chesapeake Bay pollutant reduction plan goals.
Informational signage educates the public about the various Best Management Practices (BMPs) used in the lot and the benefits of infiltration to water quality. This helps the township meets the MCM #1 (public education) goal of its MS4 permit.
DEP awarded the township a $200,000 Local Stormwater BMP Implementation Grant, which covered almost half of the project cost.
But the new parking lot provides other benefits to the community besides improved water quality. It also accommodates more cars and has better access from local streets, too. This is important because it’s located in a busy section of downtown Hershey, where it serves visitors to the local restaurants, the Hershey Story museum, the Hershey Theater, and many local shops. It also accommodates Life on Chocolate events in ChocolateTown Square.
The West Caracas Avenue parking lot project shows that development and environmental benefits can peacefully coexist and be affordable for communities at the same time. Municipalities don’t have to choose between protecting water quality and promoting economic development; they just have to invest wisely.
Stormwater management has become a major priority for environmental agencies over the past decade, and communities are struggling to meet the increasing requirements to reduce stormwater pollutants and runoff volume. The cost is simply too high for many municipalities to bear alone, but it becomes much more manageable if municipalities can share the burden with their neighbors.
Take the Pollutant Reduction Plan requirement of the MS4 application as an example. If a municipality submits a Pollutant Reduction Plan on its own, it is limited to constructing BMPs within its own borders or the drainage way of its impaired streams, but DEP will generally accept the construction of BMPs anywhere within the watershed for an MS4 permit that is submitted by a regional cooperative. This means cooperating municipalities can install BMPs that yield the greatest pollutant load reduction for the lowest cost.
Usually the largest expense associated with BMP construction is the cost of acquiring land on which to build the BMP. An individual municipality may not have much land on which to build, particularly if it is an urban municipality in which most of the available land has already been developed. As a result, the municipality may be forced to implement a large number of BMPs that each provide only marginal individual benefit in order to meet the pollutant reduction goal. If a municipality submits a regional plan with other communities in the same watershed, it will have access to a much greater land area on which to build BMPs and a reduced need for right-of-way acquisition and easements. This allows the participating municipalities to build the most effective water quality measures in the places with the greatest need.
Any improvements in upstream water quality will lead to improvements in downstream water quality, so a municipality can still see improvements in its water quality using a watershed-based approach even if a particular BMP is not located within that municipality’s borders.
When BMPs are constructed on a watershed-wide basis, the construction cost is typically lower due to economies of scale, and the water quality results are better.
Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) is working with the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority on a regional stormwater collaboration that includes 32 municipalities in Luzerne County. These municipalities intend to meet 70% of their sediment reduction goal with a single BMP: conversion of existing flood control levees into a constructed wetland with a sediment forebay and a meandering stream channel.
Regional cooperation can save municipalities money in other ways besides BMP construction. For example, the cost of preparing the Pollutant Reduction Plan itself will be much lower as a result of cooperation due to economies of scale.
Hiring a consultant to assist with pollutant reduction planning can cost thousands of dollars. If that cost is shared with 10 other municipalities, each individual municipality only has to pay a small portion.
It’s like sharing your first apartment with two roommates when you were in your 20s. The fixed cost of rent and utilities is the same whether one person lives there or three, but each person pays less if they can split that cost three ways (instead of renting their own individual apartments).
Stormwater management involves many fixed costs like the cost of owning equipment to clean out inlets or conduct outfall inspections.
Spreading those costs across a greater number of users means each user pays a smaller price for service.
Another way cooperation can reduce the cost of stormwater management is by giving municipalities increased purchasing power. Generally, you can negotiate lower unit costs for items when you buy them in larger quantities. For example, cooperating municipalities could replace or slip line several miles of pipe for a lower cost if the work was completed as part of a larger, regional project. These savings apply to the bidding of services, too. The municipalities working with the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority saved hundreds of thousands of dollars on base mapping (i.e. orthophotography, impervious area, etc.) by participating with WVSA under a single project (rather than having each municipality bid its own contract).
Municipalities have greater purchasing power when they cooperate on stormwater management solutions. For example, cooperating municipalities could slip line several miles of pipe for a lower cost if the work was completed as part of a larger, regional project.
A regional cooperative also has more borrowing power than a single municipality, and funding agencies are more likely to award a grant or loan to a regional project than one submitted by a single municipality. Funding agencies prefer regional projects because they believe regional cooperation streamlines costs, and politicians tend to support projects that benefit as large a constituent base as possible. A regional initiative should be tied together by legal agreements that assure the funding agency all funding will be properly administered. (These legal agreements are also required to meet DEP requirements for submission of a regional pollution reduction plan.)
This post is an excerpt from a longer article in the July-August-September issue of Keystone Water Quality Manager magazine. The article is focused on the cost savings communities enjoy by cooperating with regional partners on their stormwater management programs. Read the magazine for advice on finding partners for your stormwater management program or contact us to request a copy.
Erin G. Letavic, P.E., is the regional manager of civil engineering services in HRG’s Harrisburg office. She guides municipalities and cooperative groups throughout Pennsylvania through the management of their MS4 permits, provides grant application development and administration services, and provides retained engineering services to local government.
Adrienne Vicari, P.E. is the financial services practice area leader at Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG). She provides strategic financial planning and grant administration services to numerous municipal and municipal authority clients. She also serves as project manager for several projects involving the creation of stormwater authorities or the addition of stormwater to the charter of existing authorities throughout Pennsylvania.
https://www.hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Featured_KWQM-Cooperation-Saves-Money-on-SWM.png620830Judy Lincolnhttps://hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Primary-Logo-300x138.pngJudy Lincoln2018-07-18 11:26:262021-02-23 10:55:55Reduce the Cost of MS4 Compliance and Pollutant Reduction Plans Through Cooperation
In this article, we provide advice on how communities can identify areas in their park and recreational spaces that are good candidates for green infrastructure and how to work with other groups to get these projects implemented. This article is anexcerpt from an article we published in the April 2018 issue of Borough News magazineentitled “Parks Provide the Ideal Location for Meeting Environmental Regulatory Requirements.”
How can municipalities incorporate green infrastructure into their park facilities?
Start by taking an inventory of your facilities and look for places where green infrastructure could be used.
Pay close attention to your hard surface areas. These are the areas that generate the most runoff, so look for ways to reduce the amount of hard surface area or lessen its impact by directing runoff to pervious areas.
Look at your parking lots: How does stormwater flow across the lot? Are there landscaped areas or medians where you could incorporate bioretention facilities? Are there places where you could plant additional trees? Perhaps you could use permeable pavement in the parking stalls.
Watch this video to see a demonstration of how quickly permeable pavement in these municipal parking stalls absorbs a few buckets of water compared to the non-permeable pavement outside the parking stalls.
Do you have paved trails and walkways in your park system? Consider permeable pavement or a tree canopy that runs alongside the path. Because of their linear nature, bioswales can be planted alongside trails or paved paths, too. The following video shows how a system of bioswales along the bike trail in Indianapolis absorbs water during a rain event.
Could your athletic fields be used for a dry extended detention basin?
Do you have open space within existing drainage areas that could be used for constructed wetlands?
Do you have a community center? This would be a great location for a demonstration rain garden, rainwater harvesting system, or planter boxes. It could even be a candidate for a green roof.
Middletown Borough reduced the volume of stormwater entering their stormwater system by converting the traditional garden located between their municipal building and parking lot to a rain garden. By redirecting the building downspout to the rain garden, the stormwater that previously flowed across the parking lot is now infiltrated on site.
Successfully integrating green infrastructure into your park facilities is a team effort. Municipal administration, public works staff, planners, and the parks and recreation department should all work together to find cost-effective solutions that maximize benefits for the community.
But the teamwork shouldn’t end inside the government offices. Schools, conservation groups, gardening clubs, and other community groups may also want to lend a hand. Bringing them on board marshals additional resources for the cause and helps to build public support for the efforts.
Your municipal engineer can provide valuable guidance on design, regulatory requirements and even potential funding sources.
Municipal staff must be creative stewards of both the environment and the taxpayers’ money. Incorporating green infrastructure and streambank restoration projects into park and recreational facilities helps them do both. By using land the municipality already owns, communities can greatly reduce the cost of construction projects needed to comply with environmental regulation like the MS4 program. The native plantings used in rain gardens and bioswales typically need less maintenance and chemicals than turf grass, and rainwater collected in barrels can be used for irrigation or toilet flushing in order to lower water consumption costs.
At the same time, these projects prevent pollutants in stormwater runoff from reaching our lakes and streams, preserving them for recreational uses like fishing and swimming. They also help to prevent flooding, which ensures the parks department will be able to keep athletic fields and parks open for scheduled activities after a storm.
In these ways, green infrastructure can enhance the recreational experience for the user. It can also enhance the aesthetic appeal: Rain gardens and native vegetation can provide a habitat for wildlife and butterflies for safe public viewing and can serve as a quiet retreat for reflection.
Signage turns these features into an educational experience and helps to meet the educational outreach requirements of a community’s MS4 permit.
Working together as a team, municipal officials, planners, park professionals, and local community groups can protect our resources while providing exceptional recreational experiences for all.
Ben Gilberti, P.E., manages civil engineering services provided by Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) throughout Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. He assists with the design of municipal infrastructure like sidewalks, stormwater systems, and sewer facilities.
James Feath, R.L.A., is a senior landscape architect at HRG. He has 20 years of experience in the planning and design of public spaces, including parks, trails, and recreational facilities.
https://www.hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/stormwater-signage_830.jpg623830Judy Lincolnhttps://hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Primary-Logo-300x138.pngJudy Lincoln2018-04-27 10:30:002020-06-04 08:55:42How to Incorporate Green Infrastructure into Parks in order to Save Money Meeting Regulatory Requirements
As we stated last week, the latest round of MS4 permitting requires many municipalities to implement a pollutant reduction plan that reduces the level of pollutants in their stormwater by as much as 10%. This will likely involve the construction of Best Management Practices (BMPs) like rain gardens or streambank stabilization projects, and the most expensive part of BMP construction is often acquiring the land on which to build. This is why parks and recreational space can be an ideal location for BMPs because it’s land you already own; there are no land acquisition costs.
Middletown Borough is proposing to meet the majority of its MS4 pollutant reduction plan goal with the installation of a bioretention basin along the east side of Hoffer Park. This basin will be created by excavating an existing corrugated metal stormwater pipe and backfilling the trench with layers of bioretention bed components like engineered media, topsoil and mulch. Water-tolerant native plantings will then be planted there.
Wilkins Township in Allegheny County is also proposing improvements to one of its municipal parks as part of it MS4 pollutant reduction plan. The township is upgrading Lions Park to include ADA accessible routes, a paved walking trail, playground, deck hockey and pavilion. Many green infrastructure elements are being incorporated into the park design in order to manage stormwater on-site. For example, soil in all open spaces will be amended to enhance its structure and ability to promote infiltration. A rain garden will be planted along with vegetated channels and a vegetated filter strip, as well.
Green infrastructure can save money in other ways, too.
Funding agencies often prefer projects that provide multiple benefits, so municipalities may be able to increase the opportunity for grant money by combining recreational and environmental goals into the same park improvement project. As part of the grant requirement for funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Lower Swatara Township integrated water quality BMPs into the rehabilitation plan for the playground at two of their community parks. The runoff from the playground area will be conveyed into rain gardens adjacent to the new playground and will be treated on site. The walkways from the parking area to the new playground will be porous asphalt to minimize the amount of runoff. Additionally, educational signage will be installed to educate playground visitors on the environmental and water quality benefits provided by the rain gardens.
Captured rainwater can be used for irrigation or toilet flushing, thereby reducing potable water consumption.
By SuSanA Secretariat [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
A rainwater harvesting system
But the benefits of incorporating green infrastructure into your park facilities go beyond saving money:
Green infrastructure can improve the recreation experience for park users.
Natural vegetation can provide a habitat for wildlife and offer the opportunity for wildlife viewing.
Vegetation can also reduce noise and provide visual barriers to set off private areas for picnics or meditation.
Green infrastructure helps to ensure adequate flows in ponds and streams , so that park users can enjoy them.
It is generally more attractive than large swaths of concrete piping and basins.
It improves drainage, which means park facilities are less likely to flood (and less subject to closure or cancellation of activities after a storm). North Middletown Township has proposed a bioretention basin in Village Park as part of its Chesapeake Bay pollutant reduction plan, but an added benefit of the basin is that it will help to prevent the frequent flooding of a playground within the park during heavy rain events.
Green infrastructure can reduce maintenance.
Standing water is a breeding ground for mosquitos, so maintenance personnel must be vigilant to prevent it. Improving drainage will reduce the effort needed to eliminate standing water.
Turf grass can be high maintenance. Rain gardens and bioswales can be populated with native vegetation that requires less watering, no chemicals, and less mowing or weeding.
Vegetation along streambanks can slow or even absorb runoff before it reaches the stream, thereby reducing erosion. The vegetative root structures hold sediment in place to further reduce streambank erosion.
Installing green infrastructure in parks provides an opportunity to educate the public and encourage good habits.
Signs explaining how green infrastructure works can be used to meet MS4 education requirements under Minimum Control Measure #1. Cranberry Township, Butler County, is including signage about the bioswales they’re installing in Graham Park for this very reason. Schools and community groups can visit the site and learn how stormwater is managed. Park visitors can read the signs and may even be inspired to install green infrastructure on their own property. This extends the environmental benefits even further. The Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority has pioneered an innovative regional partnership among more than 30 municipalities to cooperate on stormwater management and MS4 compliance. Their plan includes the creation of stormwater parks that will combine green infrastructure with signage to educate the public. (You can read more about WVSA’s award-winning initiative here. You can also read more about the wide-ranging services we’ve provided at Graham Park.)
Signage turns green infrastructure in parks into an educational piece that can be used to meet MS4 MCM #1 requirements.
To sum it up: Incorporating green infrastructure into your park and recreational facilities allows you to provide a better experience for your residents while minimizing the cost of complying with environmental regulation and reducing future maintenance needs. It’s win-win-win!
Ben Gilberti, P.E., manages civil engineering services provided by Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) throughout Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. He assists with the design of municipal infrastructure like sidewalks, stormwater systems, and sewer facilities.
James Feath, R.L.A., is a senior landscape architect at HRG. He has 20 years of experience in the planning and design of public spaces, including parks, trails, and recreational facilities.
https://www.hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/homestead-bioswale_733x548.jpg548733Judy Lincolnhttps://hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Primary-Logo-300x138.pngJudy Lincoln2018-04-20 14:01:572023-01-23 20:48:09Benefits of Installing Green Infrastructure in Parks for MS4 Compliance
This post is an excerpt from an article we published in the April 2018 issue of Borough News magazine entitled “Parks Provide the Ideal Location for Meeting Environmental Regulatory Requirements.”
Parks aren’t just for fun and relaxation. They deliver significant value to the community, increasing property values, promoting health and wellness, and providing a gathering spot for people to socialize and get to know their neighbors. Did you know they can also help your municipality address environmental concerns like flooding, water pollution, and streambank erosion? This makes them an ideal location for meeting the regulatory requirements contained in the MS4 program.
The latest round of permitting added a new requirement for many municipalities to quantify the level of pollutants they are contributing to the watershed and execute a plan to reduce that level by as much as 10%. Municipalities can meet these requirements by implementing Best Management Practices (BMPs) like green infrastructure and streambank stabilization projects.
The most expensive part of these projects is often buying the land on which to build, so why not use land the municipality already owns in its parks and recreational facilities?
Green Infrastructure
The wide expanses of open space that parks contain are a natural fit for BMPs like green infrastructure.
Green infrastructure uses plants, soils and engineered materials to mimic the processes that absorb water and filter pollutants in nature.
When rain falls on developed property, it sits on the pavement or is directed into pipes and inlets.
Concentrating the water in this way contributes to erosion, and, when too much rain falls at once, those pipes can be overwhelmed. Then flooding occurs. In urban areas, the rain water often carries trash and other pollutants into the waterways, as well.
This is not the case in nature. Rain water that falls on undeveloped land is absorbed into the ground. Plants and vegetation filter chemicals and other pollutants from the water before it can reach our lakes and streams. Green infrastructure seeks to replicate this process.
Examples of green infrastructure include:
Rain gardens
Bioswales
Permeable Pavement
Rain gardens are shallow basins lined with water-tolerant native plants and amended soil media that collect and absorb stormwater runoff. They are also sometimes called bioretention or bioinfiltration basins.
By BrianAsh at English Wikipedia(Uploads) (Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Bioswales are similar to rain gardens, but they are lined with plants that also filter pollutants from the runoff before it is absorbed into the ground. They are typically long and narrow and are thus well-suited for placement along streets and parking lots.
HRG helped identify green infrastructure opportunities for the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALCSOSAN) that would help them address stormwater issues. This is a rendering of a bioswale in Frick Park along Amity Street in Homestead.
Permeable pavement is asphalt or concrete that is made to infiltrate runoff. Unlike conventional asphalt, permeable pavement is porous, and those pores allow water to seep into the ground. Often a layer of aggregate or stones is placed underneath the surface pavement to help filter and store the water before it is absorbed into the soil.
Volunteers demonstrate how permeable pavement in the parking lot of a shopping center absorbs the water.
Watch a video about permeable pavement HRG incorporated into the West Caracas Avenue parking lot in Derry Township. This video aired on by Fox43, a local news station in Central Pennsylvania.
Other examples of green infrastructure include tree canopies and rainwater harvesting systems.
Streambank Stabilization
Since many parks are already located along streams, they are particularly well-suited for streambank stabilization projects. In a fully developed community that lacks the open space needed for traditional land-based BMPs, a streambank restoration project in a municipal park offers the greatest opportunity for the community to meet its pollutant reduction goals.
This is the case for New Cumberland Borough in Central Pennsylvania. As part of its 2018 permit application, New Cumberland was required to prepare a Chesapeake Bay Pollutant Reduction Plan. In this plan, the borough had to demonstrate how it will reduce its sediment load as part of a multi-state effort to clean up the bay. The borough proposes to meet a significant part of that goal by planting a riparian forest buffer. This buffer will extend the length of the borough park along the Yellow Breeches Creek toward the creek’s confluence with the Susquehanna River. The buffer will slow down stormwater runoff and even absorb some of it in order to reduce further erosion of the streambank.
A streambank restoration project HRG designed in Cranberry Township’s Graham Park
Ben Gilberti, P.E., manages civil engineering services provided by Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) throughout Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. He assists with the design of municipal infrastructure like sidewalks, stormwater systems, and sewer facilities.
James Feath, R.L.A., is a senior landscape architect at HRG. He has 20 years of experience in the planning and design of public spaces, including parks, trails, and recreational facilities.
https://www.hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/featured-Riverwalk.png613820Judy Lincolnhttps://hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Primary-Logo-300x138.pngJudy Lincoln2018-04-12 11:57:442020-06-04 08:56:15Parks Provide the Ideal Location for Meeting Environmental Requirements
The Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority (WVSA) received the Governor’s Award for Local Government Excellence at a ceremony in Harrisburg on April 11, 2018. WVSA was honored for spearheading an innovative, regional approach to stormwater management that is saving municipalities in Luzerne County millions of dollars on their regulatory compliance and pollutant reduction efforts. Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) helped WVSA develop this approach.
Jim Tomaine, Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority, accepts Governor’s Award for Local Government Excellence for Building Community Partnerships on behalf of Luzerne County. pic.twitter.com/jZ2CXKDZpJ
Hundreds of communities across Pennsylvania are required to apply for a permit under the state Department of Environmental Protection’s MS4 program. This program is designed to manage stormwater runoff to prevent pollutants from entering our watersheds and reduce the risk of flooding. The latest round of permitting requires many communities to cut the level of pollutants they discharge to a particular watershed by as much as 10% over the next five years. The cost of producing and implementing these pollutant reduction plans can be too much for many local governments whose budgets are already stretched thin.
With that in mind, WVSA asked HRG to prepare a feasibility study focused on whether regional cooperation among all the municipalities in the county could lower the cost of compliance. According to HRG’s study, the approach will indeed save participating municipalities more than $200 million over the next 20 years. Some savings come from sharing the cost of planning and other fixed expenses, but the biggest savings come from the construction of best management practices meant to help the communities reach their pollutant reduction goals. Working together, the municipalities can construct fewer, more effective projects that do a better job of reducing pollution for a lower cost than municipalities would be able to achieve on their own.
The Wyoming Valley Sanitary Autority’s determination to create a better quality of life for #NEPA residents is the reason why it has received this prestigious award today… Congrats on winning a 2018 Governor’s Award for Local Government Excellence!https://t.co/bqnPZkKw13
Learn more about this excerpt from an article about WVSA’s stormwater program in The Authority magazine. The first in a series of articles on WVSA, this piece discusses the many ways regional cooperation will save municipalities money over the next five years.
ABOUT THE WYOMING VALLEY SANITARY AUTHORITY
The Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority (WVSA) has been providing wastewater treatment service for residents of Luzerne County since 1962. WVSA’s service area includes 35 municipalities from Harveys Lake to Pittston to Newport Township. Learn more about the authority and its services at www.wvsa.org
ABOUT HRG
Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) is a nationally ranked design firm providing civil engineering, surveying, and environmental services. The firm was founded in Harrisburg in 1962 and has grown to employ more than 200 people in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. For more information, please visit the website at www.hrg-inc.com.
https://www.hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/WVSA-accepts-Local-Govt-Excellence-award_733x548.png550733Judy Lincolnhttps://hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Primary-Logo-300x138.pngJudy Lincoln2018-04-11 13:06:142018-06-04 08:23:58Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority Wins Governor's Award for Local Government Excellence
Thirty-one municipalities in Luzerne County are piloting a regional approach to MS4 compliance that may revolutionize the way Pennsylvania responds to the growing challenges posed by stormwater.
Stormwater doesn’t recognize municipal boundaries. Pollution can travel through a watershed across multiple borders. Communities will be more effective at reducing pollution if they cut it off at the source, and that source may be in another municipality. This requires local governments to work together.
The same is true for flooding. Municipalities can better protect properties downstream if they address the source of the flooding upstream – even if that source is in a neighboring community.
A coordinated, regional approach will be much more effective at solving watershed problems than a fragmented approach where methods used by one municipality may be at odds with those used in another.
In the Wyoming Valley, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has estimated local municipalities generate 39 million pounds of pollutants each year. These pollutants negatively impact local waterways, the Susquehanna River, and the Chesapeake Bay.
The regional approach being pioneered by the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority and its partners is projected to reduce this yearly pollutant load by 3.9 million pounds (or 10%).
The authority and its municipal partners will be implementing regional BMPS to accomplish this goal at a fraction of the cost they would’ve incurred if the municipalities were to go it alone.
The truth is: many municipalities are not able to meet the challenges stormwater brings on their own; the cost is too much for their budgets to bear. But they can reduce the cost – and make it manageable – if they share it with their neighbors through a regional approach to stormwater management like the one being pioneered in the Wyoming Valley.
By working together on a regional approach to MS4 compliance, municipalities there are estimated to save between 58% and 70% in capital costs over the next five years. They’ll save more than $200 million on operations, maintenance, and improvements over the next 20 years.
Cooperation saves money, benefits the taxpayer, and prevents pollution. Most importantly, it makes the seemingly impossible task of protecting our watersheds possible. We hear a lot these days about the challenges that face us, and there are many who are quick to say that the political climate or financial limitations prevent us from overcoming those challenges. But the example being set in the Wyoming Valley reminds us that no challenge is too big if people work together to conquer it.
Jim Tomaine has more than 30 years of engineering experience. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from The Pennsylvania State University and a master’s degree in business administration from Wilkes University. He is the executive director of the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority and has been at WVSA for twenty seven years. Prior to the WVSA, Mr. Tomaine worked in the private sector as a design engineer. He currently holds his A-1 Wastewater Treatment Plant Operators Certification in Pennsylvania and is also a registered professional engineer.
Adrienne Vicari is the financial services practice area leader at Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG). In this role, she has helped the firm provide strategic financial planning and grant administration services to numerous municipal and municipal authority clients. She is also serving as project manager for several projects involving the creation of stormwater authorities or the addition of stormwater to the charter of existing authorities throughout Pennsylvania.
https://www.hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/03_featured-photo.jpg548733Judy Lincolnhttps://hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Primary-Logo-300x138.pngJudy Lincoln2018-02-27 11:30:222020-09-13 16:52:15Cooperation Prevents Pollution in the Wyoming Valley
Thirty-one municipalities in Luzerne County are piloting a regional approach to MS4 compliance that may revolutionize the way Pennsylvania responds to the growing challenges posed by stormwater.
If regional cooperation lowers the cost of stormwater management, it stands to reason those cost savings will be passed on to the taxpayer. But, make no mistake, replacing aging infrastructure and constructing Best Management Practices will cost money, and that money will have to come from somewhere.
With municipal budgets already stretched to the limit, communities may have to consider new revenue sources. That could mean a tax increase or a stormwater fee.
Stormwater fees are generally a better deal for the average constituent. This is because a fee structure ensures everyone pays their fair share.
If taxes were raised to cover the cost of stormwater management, many property owners with large amounts of impervious area would be exempt: hospitals, schools, and other non-profit institutions. However, these institutions can sometimes be the biggest contributors to a community’s stormwater issues because stormwater runoff occurs when the water runs along impervious surfaces and cannot infiltrate the ground.
If stormwater management is paid for through a property tax increase, these non-profit organizations won’t pay for the services they’re using, but someone will have to, and that burden will fall on homeowners and small businesses.
Studies show time and again that the average homeowner would pay less for stormwater management if he or she were charged a stormwater fee than if the municipality raised property taxes.
The regional cooperation being pioneered by the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority is an especially good deal for local taxpayers: Our analysis showed that the average residential property owner will save 70 – 93% by paying a regional stormwater fee instead of paying an increased property tax.
The Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority’s estimated stormwater fee is between $3.00 and $4.50 per month. This is lower than the other stormwater fees currently being paid throughout Pennsylvania, which average between $6.50 and $8.50 per month.
By using a regional approach, WVSA is able to lower costs beyond what an individual municipal authority could likely achieve. These numbers are even more impressive when you consider that the fees for most of the other municipal authorities included in the average above were calculated before taking 2018 MS4 permit requirements into account. Therefore, those communities may actually have to raise fees higher to meet the stricter requirements coming in the next permit cycle. WVSA’s estimated cost already accounts for the 2018 permit requirements.
Jim Tomaine has more than 30 years of engineering experience. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from The Pennsylvania State University and a master’s degree in business administration from Wilkes University. He is the executive director of the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority and has been at WVSA for twenty seven years. Prior to the WVSA, Mr. Tomaine worked in the private sector as a design engineer. He currently holds his A-1 Wastewater Treatment Plant Operators Certification in Pennsylvania and is also a registered professional engineer.
Adrienne Vicari is the financial services practice area leader at Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG). In this role, she has helped the firm provide strategic financial planning and grant administration services to numerous municipal and municipal authority clients. She is also serving as project manager for several projects involving the creation of stormwater authorities or the addition of stormwater to the charter of existing authorities throughout Pennsylvania.
https://www.hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/02_featured-photo.jpg548733Judy Lincolnhttps://hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Primary-Logo-300x138.pngJudy Lincoln2018-02-20 15:44:162023-01-23 20:51:36Regional Stormwater Plan to Save Taxpayers Money in Luzerne County
Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) is pleased to announce that two of our projects have been selected by Dauphin County in its annual Premier Projects award program.
Since its inception six years ago, the Dauphin County Premier Projects program has honored more than two dozen projects that promote smart growth and spark revitalization throughout the region. Among this year’s honorees, HRG provided engineering services for two of them: enhancements to Fort Hunter Park and realignment of Park Boulevard.
Park Boulevard
A broad range of local leaders from Derry Township, Dauphin County, and area businesses worked together on the realignment of Park Boulevard to support future economic development in Hershey. The new roadway provides several safety improvements:
It replaces a 60-year old bridge over Spring Creek, which was structurally deficient and weight-restricted.
It converts a narrow roadway beneath the Norfolk-Southern underpass from two-way traffic to one-way traffic. This reduces the potential for vehicular accidents and allows for the installation of a sidewalk that is segregated from through traffic.
It improves emergency response time by adding a roadway connection from northbound Park Boulevard. (Previously, first responders had to drive a circuitous route through several intersections to access this area. Now crews can reach the area 2-3 minutes faster.)
It provides a new shared-use sidewalk that will enhance safety for pedestrians traveling to Hershey’s attractions from downtown.
It adds a safe zone for people boarding and exiting buses at the Hershey Intermodal Transportation Center. This zone is physically protected from through-traffic.
Front Row: Chuck Emerick, Matt Weir, John Foley, Susan Cort, Justin Engle Back Row: Chris Brown, Patrick O’Rourke, John Payne, Brian Emberg, Tom Mehaffie, III, Matt Lena, Lauren Zumbrun
Fort Hunter Park
Fort Hunter Park seamlessly blends new amenities with environmental protection and a celebration of the area’s history and wildlife. The enhanced park includes two new boat launches that provide access to Fishing Creek and the Susquehanna River, new pedestrian paths, new seating to enjoy the scenic views, and new outdoor gathering spaces to accommodate park festivals. It also includes expanded parking to make it easier for locals to access and enjoy these new park features.
To protect the scenic and tranquil environmental setting, engineers used innovative techniques to collect and treat stormwater like porous pavement. They also replaced two paved median areas with soil, stone and native plantings to retain and filter stormwater runoff while enhancing the appearance of the roadway. A new basin for collecting stormwater is designed to blend with the adjoining woodland edge, and herbaceous plantings and indigenous trees help to improve a local habitat area.
Signage in the enhanced habitat area describes local wildlife for park users, while other signs in the park inform visitors of past river activities such as Native American gatherings, early transportation, and coal reclamation.
Chad Gladfelter, Carl Dickson, John Hershey, Matt Bonanno, Steve Deck
ABOUT HRG
Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) is a nationally ranked design firm providing civil engineering, surveying, and environmental services. The firm was founded in Harrisburg in 1962 and has grown to employ more than 200 people in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. For more information, please visit the website at www.hrg-inc.com.
https://www.hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/FeaturedImage_PremierProjects2018.png265354Judy Lincolnhttps://hrg-inc.com/hrgtemp/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Primary-Logo-300x138.pngJudy Lincoln2018-01-10 12:48:002018-06-04 08:24:00Park Boulevard Realignment and Fort Hunter Park Enhancements Honored as Premier Projects by Dauphin County
Learn more about our work with the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority in this 3-part series published in The Authority, a magazine published by the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association.
Ben Gilberti, P.E., manages civil engineering services provided by Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) throughout Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. He assists with the design of municipal infrastructure like sidewalks, stormwater systems, and sewer facilities.
James Feath, R.L.A., is a senior landscape architect at HRG. He has 20 years of experience in the planning and design of public spaces, including parks, trails, and recreational facilities. 
Ben Gilberti, P.E., manages civil engineering services provided by Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) throughout Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. He assists with the design of municipal infrastructure like sidewalks, stormwater systems, and sewer facilities.
James Feath, R.L.A., is a senior landscape architect at HRG. He has 20 years of experience in the planning and design of public spaces, including parks, trails, and recreational facilities. 
