On June 30, a pair of veterans groups held a dedication ceremony for improvements they had made to grounds near the Allegro restaurant where there are three monuments — one of which had been relocated from across 40th Street.

The improvements included a mulched garden near a trio of benches at the western end of the property.

On Wednesday, Ken Tedora, a member of the Blair County National Guard and Veterans Association, who had labored many hours on the renovations, appeared before City Council, along with residents of three neighboring properties, to complain about flooding that has plagued that area this summer: washing out the monument mulch twice, geysering 3 feet high at a storm inlet on West Chestnut Avenue and flooding yards — though without causing damage to homes.

“It looked like a monsoon river,” Tedora told council.

“We keep getting dumped on,” said Marianne Sinisi of the 3900 block of Maple Avenue. “You can’t even go anywhere without being worried about rainstorms.”

Sinisi said she pays taxes and shouldn’t have to put up with it.

She’s talked to city officials but hasn’t gotten satisfaction, she said.

A now-retired city official said her house should never have been built where it is, but that is no comfort at this point, she said. There were two previous owners, so she had nothing to do with it’s placement there, she added.

No one may want to hear it, but the area has had a wet summer, and even well-designed facilities have been overwhelmed, said City Manager Marla Marcinko.

Yes, it’s been wet lately, but flooding has been a problem in that area for more than 40 years at least, said Tom Taylor of the 3900 block of West Chestnut.

It often makes walking on yards like treading a sponge or “6 to 8 inches of foam rubber,” Taylor said.

It also forces families to postpone mowing until their lawns dry out, he said.

After the meeting, a resident showed a video of water bubbling out of an inlet grate.

The problem is caused by too-small stormwater pipes in the area, Taylor and Tedora said.

Sinisi worried that potential further development uphill from her property would worsen the situation.

Development is a common cause of downstream flooding, Marcinko said — although Councilman Dave Butterbaugh said that current development regulations could mean that an upstream building project might improve matters.

Tedora replaced the swept-away mulch in the monument cluster garden once and is working on doing it again.

He plans to install screening on top of it this time to prevent a repeat, although he’s not sure it will work.

Maybe the city can build a retention pond upstream of their area with some of the reserve money it has accumulated in recent years, Sinisi said.

“I’ll talk to (Public Works Director Nate Kissell) and see what I can find out,” Marcinko said.

The city will probably need to work with Logan Township on a solution, because the boundary between the municipalities is nearby — and upstream, said Councilman Dave Butterbaugh.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.