Lumber Street bridge expected to open before school

Debris washed onto the banks of the Perkiomen Creek from the Lumber Street area in Green Lane.

            The August 8^th meeting of the Green Lane Borough Council brought added insight into the damage and cleanup efforts from the devastating rainfall brought on by the July 11 storm.

            Officials were gathered in the Council Chambers for their monthly meeting on July 11 when the storm hit the borough.  Mayor Lynn Wolfe, who also serves as the Emergency Management Coordinator for the borough, received a call from Montgomery County officials advising her that they needed "eyes on the ground" during the weather event.

            Wolfe would eventually be joined on the streets of the town by police, fire, and emergency medical service personnel as the waters of the Macoby Creek spilled over their banks and invaded homes and businesses along the way, then surging into the Perkiomen Creek causing more flood damage on the northern side of Green Lane.

             Residents of the affected area were invited to shelter at the Green Lane Firehouse to await the arrival of representatives of the American Red Cross.  At the firehouse, the displaced residents, some with their pets, received food and water while waiting for those representatives who had to navigate through closed roads and bridges to make their way to Green Lane.

            The Red Cross representative arrived around 11 p.m. and were on hand till 2:30 a.m. to insure that all of the flood victims received vouchers for a safe place to stay.  About 11 families were affected.

            As of Thursday's meeting, one building in the 700 block of Lumber St. remained uninhabitable, awaiting the determination of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) engineers, as to whether or not it will be condemned.

            According to the Mayor, an apartment building on the corner of Gravel Pike and Lumber St. remains vacant while storm-related damage is repaired.  She estimated that the Green Lane-Marlborough Sewer Authority sustained about $15,000 worth of damage.

            During the meeting, officials reaffirmed their Disaster Declaration as part of their effort to seek disaster funding.  As a vital part of that, Wolfe keeps meticulous records of the storm event and the losses by all, and the services provided.

            A major part of the storm's aftermath is the clean-up that has happened and the amount of work still to be done.

            The damaged sections of roadway leading to the bridge over the Macoby Creek, near the Marlborough Township line at Lumber Street and Hoppenville Road, has been closed since July 11.  Wolfe reported that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) plans to have the road opened in the next two weeks – in time for the opening of school.

            Other cleanup is not expected to be done as quickly.  The Perkiomen Creek, near the mouth of the Macoby Creek, is littered with bulky debris that may need to be removed with large equipment.  A suggestion floated at the meeting was to contact the Army Corps of Engineers for help.

            Joyce Lang, a resident of Lumber Street, attended the meeting and thanked officials for their help before and after the storm.  She also asked about a rumor circulating in the community that water was released from the Green Lane Dam during the storm and if it had any effect on the flooding.

            The dam overflows into the Perkiomen Creek, about 250-yards north of the Macoby Creek.

            Mayor Wolfe stated "I can affirm that Aqua did not release any water from the dam."