Harrisburg City Council held a meeting tonight to figure out the next step to address the growing issues of sinkholes and major potholes.
Members of the Public Works Department and the Budget and Finance Committee sat down to get an idea of how much repairs will cost and preventative measure to take moving forward.
As families on 4th Street continue to feel the impacts of this massive sinkhole. The Publics Works portion of the meeting touched on the city sharpening up emergency reaction protocol, to service families impacted by this better in the future.
"We do have a huge out of sight liability in the City," said Shannon Williams, Executive Director of the Harrisburg Authority
You can't see what's underground or can you. At Monday's meeting, Harrisburg Authority outlined a potential plan that would use sonar and cameras snaking through water pipes all over the City to identify which ones need attention.
"With the water sewer infrastructure, as those deteriorate we end up with sinkhole issues that will cause problems on the surface." Williams said.
The sinkhole issue on 4th Street in council's eyes, brings to light an even greater issue, the overall state of the City's aging infrastructure. Which is why a letter was drafted, from Council to the House Committee on Infrastructure, requesting Harrisburg's get more attention.
"There is no need for immediate alarm," said Robert Philbin, Mayor Linda Thompson's spokesperson. "The catastrophic incidents are not happening every other week or month, it's every other year."
But the concern from Council is that the amount of catastrophic incidents could increase.
"We've got the major, potential emergencies identified, now we need to work through them." Philbin said. "There is no need for the city people to panic, be alert, cautious and call us, we have a sinkhole number."
The number to call about sinkholes is 255-6524.
As for the finance portion of the meeting, Harrisburg Authority says potentially a water and sewer fund will take care of the subterranean repairs on 4th street, while Public Works will use a street repair fund for the surface.
Both are confident it will cover this incident.
Members of the Public Works Department and the Budget and Finance Committee sat down to get an idea of how much repairs will cost and preventative measure to take moving forward.
As families on 4th Street continue to feel the impacts of this massive sinkhole. The Publics Works portion of the meeting touched on the city sharpening up emergency reaction protocol, to service families impacted by this better in the future.
"We do have a huge out of sight liability in the City," said Shannon Williams, Executive Director of the Harrisburg Authority
You can't see what's underground or can you. At Monday's meeting, Harrisburg Authority outlined a potential plan that would use sonar and cameras snaking through water pipes all over the City to identify which ones need attention.
"With the water sewer infrastructure, as those deteriorate we end up with sinkhole issues that will cause problems on the surface." Williams said.
The sinkhole issue on 4th Street in council's eyes, brings to light an even greater issue, the overall state of the City's aging infrastructure. Which is why a letter was drafted, from Council to the House Committee on Infrastructure, requesting Harrisburg's get more attention.
"There is no need for immediate alarm," said Robert Philbin, Mayor Linda Thompson's spokesperson. "The catastrophic incidents are not happening every other week or month, it's every other year."
But the concern from Council is that the amount of catastrophic incidents could increase.
"We've got the major, potential emergencies identified, now we need to work through them." Philbin said. "There is no need for the city people to panic, be alert, cautious and call us, we have a sinkhole number."
The number to call about sinkholes is 255-6524.
As for the finance portion of the meeting, Harrisburg Authority says potentially a water and sewer fund will take care of the subterranean repairs on 4th street, while Public Works will use a street repair fund for the surface.
Both are confident it will cover this incident.