Recently you may have noticed some repair work being conducted in the vicinity of the rear mailbox parking area. Due to the abrupt temperature changes that hit Northeast PA we fell victim to an early Freeze/Thaw Cycle. In Laymen’s terms, “potholes, raised water tables, broken asphalt and more potholes”.

The entire rear parking lot became “sponge like” due to the extreme warm weather and large rain fall which pushed up from under the parking lot. This quickly became a major safety issue overnight and needed to be addressed immediately.

The Maintenance Department, along with several knowledgeable committee members and representatives of Stroud Township, collaborated, developed and implemented a plan which allowed Penn Estates to put a long term solution into place instead of a temporary fix.

As a result of the combined effort a drainage trench was made around the perimeter of the parking lot, tying into an existing drainage swale on Penn Estates Drive.

By the second morning of digging, large amounts of water were observed filling up the partially dug trench. This water would normally be slowly moving under the parking lot. Now the water is being safely diverted into the existing drainage swale.

Also during the project, it was discovered that a natural spring was trying to find its way across the parking lot under the asphalt.

Proper drainage is a major weapon in fighting pothole problems. Standing water and subsurface water weakens pavement support and contributes to cracking from frost penetration and freeze-thaw cycles.

The Maintenance staff would like to thank all those who helped us. And we appreciate the patience of our membership while we handled what nature helped create.

We apologize for any inconvenience that this project may have caused.