Mayor Addresses Flooding

On Monday, July 8th, Mayor and Council heard from residents of Glenwood Avenue about the continuing issue of street flooding. Reports of flooding on the 200 block of Glenwood Avenue in Merchantville can be found in newspapers as far back as 1938. In 1979, flooding along Glenwood and Holly Avenues was sited as issue and in 1989 Borough Engineers, Remington and Vernick, advised the municipality to increase the size of storm sewer pipes from 18" to 24"and replace the system of drainage pipes along the railroad embankment. In 1991 the Borough appropriated $25,000 in funds to enlarge the storm drains, then in 1992 an additional $22,800 to increase drain capacity caused by heavy storms. In 1995, Mayor Patrick Brennan announced an $85,00 contract with VPS, Inc. to solve years of flooding by relocating two storm pipes, installed in 1945 along the 200 block of Glenwood, to the Holly Road intersection; increasing the storm pipe size from 18" to 27"; and, creating more inlets to catch rainwater. Today, Mayor Ted Brennan sent a letter to the residents of Glenwood Avenue detailing actions taken to date, outlining plans to alleviate future issues, and announcing a follow up meeting in that neighborhood on August 6th.