WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Recently Wilkes-Barre resident John Magda went to officials in the city about a problem he noticed near his house along Laurel Run Creek.
"Every day. I walk my dog down here every day, and when she wants to go up Kresge Street over there, that's where I noticed the holes in the wall right down here, and I called the city," said Magda.
Mayor George Brown says he's doing something about it as soon as possible.
"What we're doing is we actually have an RFP out that we're getting quotes on the repair of the walls and other parts of this Laurel Run Creek," said Brown.
"Well, this has been going on for years and years and years. As you could see, the whole culvert has been deteriorating," added Magda.
City officials tell Newswatch 16 some parts of these walls have been repaired in recent years, but the sections that need emergency repair now are more than 90 years old.
"It's an old WPA wall," explained Brown. "We're going to repair it, and we're going to make it safe for the residents. Also, you have to understand, as we do that, flood protection. One of the most important services that we should be providing for the residents of Wilkes Barre, and we're doing that today."
Mayor Brown says money to repair these walls is leftover from a bond created to repair the walls around Solomon Creek in South Wilkes-Barre.
"By repairing the walls it also helps with not just flood protection, but also with the insurance costs, flood insurance costs, that's also something that's very, very important here, but our main objective here is to provide a safe environment for John, and the rest of the residents in the city of Wilkes-Barre," said Brown.
Mayor Brown hopes to present a bid proposal to the city council in mid-May to get approval for this flood control project in Wilkes-Barre.