a day ago
Clogged storm drains cause headaches for Washington County restaurant owner
Flooding is creating major problems for a restaurant in Washington County.
The owner of Lenzi's Restaurant in Monongahela said flooding has become an issue over the last several years. John Timko said the storm drains in front of the restaurant clog when it rains, blaming the leaves and debris dumped at the bottom of a nearby cemetery.
"If it thunders, I'm up," Timko said. "I'm on my security cameras watching to see if it is backing up."
After last Friday's storms, a muddy mess was left in the parking lot of Lenzi's Restaurant. Video shows employees scooping up leaves, sticks and garbage to keep the storm drains open so the restaurant would not flood.
"Everything was covered with mud," Timko said. "The entire parking lot was covered with mud and debris, leaves, logs and just washed down from the cemetery."
He blames the ongoing problems on Monongahela Cemetery. He said it dumps debris at the bottom entrance, and when it rains, the water and debris flow to Lenzi's Restaurant.
"There are 13 storm drains along this small section of the road. ... They were all clogged with debris," Timko said.
He said local leaders know it is a problem.
"They've been here so many times," Timko said.
Last year, the city hired an engineering company to look into the flooding in the area. It found there was "no single contributing factor to the flooding." However, it noted that the "cemetery's practice of pushing debris and material at the edge of their property and mountain slope should be addressed
KDKA reached out to the cemetery several times on Monday but did not hear back.
