The council of governments charged with developing projects to reduce stormwater-borne pollution flowing into central Blair County streams is trying to obtain easements for Phase 1 of a $7.2 million floodplain restoration along the Beaverdam Branch of the Juniata River.

The 10-municipality Intergovernmental Stormwater Committee hopes to advertise for bids in mid-January for work that would start near Plank Road and go downstream to about one-third of the way through Legion Park in Hollidaysburg.

That portion of the overall project is estimated to cost $3.2 million and would reduce sediment flowing into the river by about one million pounds per year — enough to fulfill the requirements of the ISC’s current permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection, according to engineer Brian Smith of Keller Engineers.

The current permit requires that organization to reduce the inflow of sediment into area streams by 1.4 million pounds by the end of 2025, when the permit expires.

The ISC is currently 500,000 pounds per year short of that goal.

ISC officials discussed the feasibility of combining Phases 1 and 2, at least as an alternate bidding option, to save about $1 million overall, due to not having duplicate expenses for such activities as erosion and sedimentation protections and mobilization.

But the board decided against it because of uncertainty about being able to obtain the required easements for Phase 2 in time to go forward with the project on the proposed timeline.

“We don’t want to be in jeopardy of having to throw out (the bids) due to not getting the easements,” Smith told the group.

Twelve easements are required for Phase 1 and a smaller number for Phase 2, although Phase 2 requires more work due to the greater width of the floodplain in its area, Smith said.

Most of the Phase 1 easements are needed from businesses, Smith said.

He doesn’t expect there to be problems getting those easements, he said.

The current owners would retain the floodplain ground for which they would provide the permanent easements, Smith said.

None of that ground is being used now anyway, he said.

Easement refusals could lead to project modifications, he said.

As far as he knows, the committee won’t be considering eminent domain takings, if there are easement refusals, he said.

Given that Phase 1 should fulfill the current permit requirements for sediment reduction, it’s possible that Phase 2 may not be necessary, one official suggested.

Whether Phase 2 proves necessary will depend on what’s required by the next permit, said engineer Brian Shura of Stiffler McGraw.

The ISC hasn’t been given any information yet about the requirements for the next permit, Shura said.

Cost estimates for the overall project have risen, even though the scope of the project has shrunk.

Late last year, the overall cost was pegged at $3.1 million.

Early this year, the cost was raised to $5.9 million, due to the high cost of off-site disposal of the “legacy” sediment that would be removed, to recreate the original, natural floodplain.

At first, the work was to extend from Plank Road to Allegheny Street in Hollidaysburg.

Now it’s slated stop about a quarter-mile short of Allegheny Street, for a total project length of 0.8 mile.

The shortening of the project occurred after property owners near Allegheny Street expressed worries about flooding.

One owner sent a cease-and-desist letter to the organization.

The Phase 1 work should be done by the fall of 2025, according to Smith.