Ross Commissioner Sponcer: Storm Water Retention Dam Along Cemetery Lane is 'Waste of Money'

Several hundred yards behind the rear parking lot of The Haven Personal Care home off of Cemetery Lane, workers are moving tons of earth in preparation for a 25-foot high dam.

The dam will bridge the steep-sided valley that runs parallel to a portion of Cemetery lane and is designed to control storm water runoff into Girty's Run near Babcock Boulevard.

The dam has been in the works since 2007, when Ross Commissioners voted to seek up to $1 million from the PA Department of Environmental Resources. That vote followed a two-hour meeting that was devoted mostly to public complaints about flooding problems along Girty's Run, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. 

Had he been on the board of commissioners at the time, current Ross Commissioner John Sponcer says he would have voted against it.

"The dam is supposed to control one-percent of the storm water runoff into Girty's Run," he said. "I don't think one-percent is worth a $1-million. Why not just dredge Girty's Run? That's what the Army Corps did in Millvale a few years back. That makes more sense to me."

The dam is scheduled to be completed by June 30, according to Ross Public Works Director Mike Funk.

"It will be built with rolled, compacted concrete and be shaped somewhat like a pyramid," he said. "It's designed to control, but not stop the flow of storm water into Girty's Run during heavy rains."

The township will own and maintain the dam, something else that bothers Sponcer.

"We don't even have the equipment to clean it out, and all of the restoration work for the dam will have to be paid by the township," he said. "I know hindsight's 20-20, but this thing should have been put on hold a long time ago."

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