Harmony business, museum leaders worry about borough
HARMONY — As he ducked to cross The Center of Harmony's dirt floor basement beneath him, business bustling just above his head, Josh Meeder pointed to a hole in the ground.
Inside the hole rests a stormwater pipe. Water from the south side of the borough starting at Interstate 79 and Evans City Road runs through the pipe, with another entry point on Mercer Street directly in front of the building.
When the nearby Connoquenessing Creek rises, the pipe backs up, flooding not only Meeder's building, but also streets and businesses throughout the borough.
“My basement floods every time it rains if it's over seven feet,” he said of the creek.
Even a few inches of rain brings water to the front door of the building, which Meeder has owned for nearly eight years. For the first six years, water rarely, if ever, came close.
May's flood, however, saw Meeder working for nearly 12 hours, running water pumps from Mercer Street and redirecting it into the back yard to keep damage to a minimum. The overall damage to the building's foundation is unknown, leaving Meeder to question what can be done.
This is an excerpt — pick up Sunday's Butler Eagle to read the full article.
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