Route 88 drainage to be reviewed
MAPLETOWN – When Nancy and Denny McIntire built their Monongahela Township home in the early 1990s, they found an oasis where they could raise horses in a nearby pasture.
For the next two decades, they had no water drainage issues in the one-acre pasture where two show horses roamed. But their field began to turn into a swampy mess not long after a parcel of land directly across Route 88 was developed.
They blame Coontz Excavating and its owner, Michael Coontz, for allegedly deviating from construction plans submitted to county planners four years ago.
Their tractor became bogged down in heavy mud on dry summer days and the muck would pull the shoes off of their horses, forcing them to board the animals elsewhere.
“We never had any problems at all. We didn’t object (to the development) and we’re not avert to businesses,” Nancy McIntire said. “But a year after he put the warehouse up, we started noticing it was constantly wet and we couldn’t mow it anymore.
She said the issue accelerated when Coontz built a large cement pad he uses to wash trucks and other vehicles that come from Marcellus Shale drill sites. She added the water runs into a state Department of Transportation pipe along Route 88 and drains into their field.
“It’s taken the enjoyment of our property completely away,” she said.
The Greene County planning commission agreed with the couple’s concerns and voted Monday night to refer the matter to county commissioners to decide if Coontz violated his stormwater plan that was approved in 2011 and whether he should be ordered to solve the drainage issue.
Coontz and his lawyer, Kelly Stepp, denied the allegation and said during the meeting more engineering studies should be performed to determine exactly how water is reaching the McIntire’s property.
“All of your arguments assume that he’s in violation, and he believes he’s not,” Stepp told the planning commission. “I think a little more time would be appropriate.”
However, several members of the planning commission and the McIntires said they’ve waited long enough and have had trouble getting Coontz to respond multiple requests to meet about the issue and possibly take corrective actions.
“What was approved was not built,” said Kevin O’Malley, the planning commission’s solicitor. “We have an adjacent landowner who has showed up and wants action. If you want more time, ask (the county commissioners).”
Not everyone on the planning commission agreed. Board member Larry Stratton suggested they wait until their next meeting in September to have both sides present their case and make a decision then.
“It troubles me we have a factual dispute happening,” said Stratton, who was the only member to vote against the motion to refer the matter to the county commissioners. “Does the board not have discussions? There are two points here.”
Other members said they’ve waited long enough to enforce the alleged violation.
“This has been going on for a while,” board member Jim Goroncy said.
Nancy McIntire said they spoke to Coontz in January 2014 and he offered to run a pipe to divert water, although that plan was found to be unworkable.
The water is now constant, she said, and has made a portion of their property worthless.
“Something needs to be done, and not just letters,” Nancy McIntire said. “We need sanctions.”
It was not immediately known when the county commissioners plan to review the issue.