PALMYRA, Pa. – Community members have a sinking feeling about when a sinkhole in their neighborhood will be fixed.
Residents near Cherry and Grant streets in Palmyra, Lebanon County, say they're tired of being passed over, because there's a sinkhole that has not been fully fixed, and they say it's becoming an eyesore.
“The other infrastructure they're talking about, a fire house, they're talking about re-paving streets, fixing other sinkholes, we want to know where our sinkhole issues fit in those priorities,” Kenn Medina, who lives across the street from the closure area, said.
The sinkhole first formed in October 2013, but the roads still are closed at the sinkhole and the houses have been vacated.
“I would like to see Cherry Street not continue to go the route it is,” Nicole Reitz, who organized the citizens’ group, added. “There was flooding and it looked like a creek going down there anytime it rained.”
The residents group formed after Reitz questioned the borough council's recent vote to allocate money to build a new fire station. Palmyra officials are applying for a FEMA grant that could cover fixing the sinkhole, which could cost up to $2 million to fix.
“This particular issue is still unfinished, unresolved, and we are concerned about our safety, safety of the children in our neighborhood, safety of the walking routes back and forth to school, and of course, our property values,” Medina said.
The group has been meeting for months now, hoping to focus their message to the borough council to finally approve a fix.
“We can work this all out together, but let's bring together the town and get the sinkholes fixed, [and] then we worry about the fire company,” Reitz said.