Pine Avenue SE remains a problem area in Warren when water rises
Pine Avenue SE remains a problem area in Warren when water rises
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WARREN -- Amid a rain-filled week, local officials have declared the flooding of Pine Avenue SE near blue-collar businesses as an ongoing problem.
Because of its proximity to the Mahoning River and a 36-inch water main collapse several years ago, the road directly in front of Mar-Zane Asphalt Plant and Steel Warehouse Ohio Profiling has flooded consistently after rainfall over the last 10 years, officials explained.
"That is a floodplain area," Warren City Wastewater Management Director Mike Welke said. "When the river rises up, it is going to flood. Trying to come up with a plan -- yes. We are working on it with several different entities to come up with a plan that would hopefully ease or eliminate most of the flooding. We can't guarantee that we'll do 100% of it, because it is the natural floodplain in that area."
To minimize the growing puddle, Welke said the city is working with other municipalities, including Niles and Howland, as well as the Western Reserve Port Authority and other engineering firms to come up with ideas for mitigating most of the flooding.
"I think that it will be greatly minimized, but won't totally, never happen again," Welke said. "We are working on that. We're just still in the early phases of how to come up with those plans. And then we have to see how we'll pay for it, and go from there."
As for the drainage pipe's ownership, which could not be confirmed, Ted Montecalvo, Warren City's sewer systems superintendent, said "It is under BDM's property, but at this point, we're trying to work together in unity to try to figure out a solution to the problem. It's affecting everybody. We're not sitting on this, and we are trying our best to get the ball rolling. It's not an easy fix. It's hard to really pinpoint what happened at this point. I've been here for 38 years, and Pine Avenue has always flooded when the river comes up. That is in a floodplain and it will rise as the river rises."
The water pollution department heads described the constant flooding as a complex situation, as the joint effort continues.
"Speaking in generalities, we have been out to that site with representatives of the City of Warren," Trumbull County Engineer Randy Smith said. "The Western Reserve Port Authority has been present. There have been engineering firms involved in that and there have been different alternatives reviewed. I believe the City of Warren even embarked on another study to look at some alternatives."
From an engineering perspective, Smith said, there were certain questions about the involvement of "potentially a structure underneath the railroad."
"There are several rail lines adjacent to the roadway, and from all of our observations, from the work that the Port Authority had completed out there, some of the challenges with the conveyance of the stormwater are actually on the property itself, not as a result of the city, the county or the railroad."
KIMBERLY CLARK
On Dec. 27, the Fortune 200 Texas-based manufacturer of consumer brands that include Kleenex, Cottonelle, Huggies, Kotex and Depends finalized the $9.9 million purchase of 560 acres that formerly housed the Republic Steel and then RG Steel mills and most recently was owned by Western Reserve Port Authority.
"We've had discussions with Kimberly Clark about the flooding and we're looking at possible solutions," Mike Keys, director of Warren's community development department, said. "We don't know whether one solution will be a cure-all for everything, so there are a number of different things that we're currently looking at, and we're involving them as we do that."
The property was used to produce multiple forms of steel from 1912 to 2012.
The last steel producer was RG Steel, which sold the mill to BDM in 2012 when RG Steel went bankrupt.
BDM immediately started looking for a new buyer.
With none in sight, BDM auctioned parts of the mill in spring 2013 and began tearing down buildings and started to market the land.
The blast furnace, the last remaining one in Trumbull and Mahoning counties, was torn down in 2017.
Keys said officials, across the board, are aware of the situation, while offering help. Within these complex plans for alleviation, Keys said "That particular piece of property is huge."
"You're looking at a number of solutions. Is that one of them, do you fix all that (collapsed piping) and does it take care of the full property, or do that in conjunction with other things?"
The groups will eventually have to lay out a plan for combining solutions, Keys sais, but they "just aren't at that point yet."
Other mentions of planning, as Keys explained, include observing "price tags." Keys added, "Let's look at where the funding may or may not come from. Let's look at exactly what Kimberly Clark is doing, where they're building. And let's make sure we take care of the most immediate needs first. We have to list our priorities."
Keys said Howland Township, Kimberly Clark and the Western Reserve Port Authority are being "kept in the loop," because the city does not want to push the problem to other places.
SCHOOL BUSES
John Lacy, director of operations for Warren City Schools, said roughly 30 of the school's buses are located in the district's garage on Roanoke Avenue SE, plus an employee parking lot for about 25 drivers.
"So, anytime Pine floods, we have to be pretty aware of the weather dynamic," Lacy said. "Pine starts to flood and comes up closer to the railroad tracks there. And once it hits Roanoke, it starts to go down Roanoke, almost like a running creek. It will build up pretty quickly and eventually expands into the employee parking lot. And that creates another problem."
Lacy added that the garage itself is raised enough that it never has taken on water in the garage, "but the worst has been up to the bottom of that rise," Lacy said.
"We're talking about $125,000 x 30," Lacy said. "That's roughly $3 million worth of equipment that we're pretty concerned with."
Lacy said that after addressing concerns with Montecalvo, the district moved all of its buses to Mollenkopf Stadium.
"That's also where we get gas for our vehicles," Lacy said about the garage on Roanoke Avenue. "If we're messing around, we can get into a lot of trouble. Fortunately, we're just kind of used to it and we make adjustments."
The school district would be "very happy" to collaborate with the city for grants to help solve the problem, Lacy said. The water, when the flooding has reached a maximum height, has risen halfway up school bus tires, Lacy said.
"With the potential growth of Kimberly Clark and who knows what else down Pine, it's something that really needs to be addressed, and taken care of," Lacy said.
RESCUE
Over the years, the City of Warren has posted barricades, road closure signs and used safety forces to respond in the event that the flood plain rises to insurmountable risk. Many drivers, however, have chosen to ignore the signs and find themselves stuck in the water.
"We're called to that area quite frequently, whenever there is a significant amount of rain," said Warren fire Chief Ken Nussle. "We've seen cars stranded, and we assist them in getting out of the water. Even though there are barricades set up, some people think they can just drive around the barricades and go through the water, but normally, they can't get through."
As for replacing the pipe, Nussle added, "There's really nothing the city can do to replace that pipe. It's not their pipe."
The pipe is connected to the former RG Steel property.
"As far as who owns it, I'm not sure," Nussle said.
While the 22-year fire chief said pulling people out of the water "doesn't take long," he further commented about accessing calls using Pine Avenue, "It doesn't really pose a significant problem for us, because we have other access."
"Beyond Burton Street, everything else is outside of our district, so we take Niles Road to Burton if we have to," Nussle said. "As far back as I can remember, we've had a problem there. But it has gotten significantly worse, probably over the last 10 to 12 years."
Montecalvo and Welke said motorists should not risk clearing the flooded area to reach their destinations.
"Our street department has been closing the road and barricades have been smashed," Montecalvo said. "I know it's human nature not to turn around and take a longer route, but we are trying to maximize the safety of our community. We're trying, but please don't try to drive through."
Welke added, "It's deeper than it looks."