Afton Flood Mitigation Committee Report

Both the Village and Town of Afton have signed the applications our committee

presented for two programs available through the U.S. Corps. of Army Engineers.

If approved, these programs would fund:

- Securing the Susquehanna River bank from further erosion near and under

               the Route 41 bridge , preventing possible destruction of the homes and

               road in that area, and also protecting the foundation of the bridge itself.

- Removal of the three sizable gravel bars that are preventing the Afton

Fire Department from accessing the river to fill the fire trucks or launch their rescue boat from the boat launch area near the bridge. The gravel bars are     

               also causing erosion of the river banks in their vicinity, especially in the area of

               the Route 41 bridge foundation.

 These programs would fund almost all of the work and Afton would cover our required contribution through in-kind services. It will take several months to hear back on our

applications. A lengthy process entails a review before the work can begin.

 The next project is the biggest, most detailed and most challenging. The culvert that

runs under the I-88 on/off ramp is inadequate to drain flood waters that back up in times of high water levels. The 24 inch culvert has sunk into the ground and visual inspection

reveals that it is severely blocked. It was designed to drain water from the East Main Street area to behind the Afton Fair Grounds along an ancient river bed and then back to the Susquehanna River. Normally, this ancient river bed is a small stream, but during high water the culvert can’t drain the water fast enough and the on/off ramp acts as an earthen dam, causing water to back up and, as it continues to rise, flood homes in the East Main Street area and portions of other streets, homes and businesses in that vicinity.

The Flood Mitigation Committee feels that a 12 foot culvert is needed to correct the

problem and we are  working with the Chenango County Department of Soil and Water, U.S. Corps of Army Engineers, DEC Department of Water and others to get this done.

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The committee has a list of 108 village homes that were heavily impacted by the 2011

flood. We are compiling a larger list of town and village residences/businesses that sustained damage in the 2006 and/or the 2011 floods. This data will be confidential and used only to strengthen our efforts to prevent or diminish future flooding. If you, or someone you know, sustained water damage in either flood, including ground water coming into your basement, please call April Leggett at 639-4849.

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(This article from pages 4-5, Winter 2013 issue, The Afton Vision)