The Wabash Creek flows under the streets of Tamaqua and will likely always be in need of timely repairs or maintenance.

There’s necessary work to be done in the near term, and the Tamaqua borough is set to apply for a $500,000 grant through the state’s Flood Mitigation Program.

“The creek runs under South Railroad Street by the library and goes under the railroad tracks, and eventually into the Little Schuylkill River,” said Kevin Steigerwalt, Tamaqua borough manager.

The last project which the borough did was in 2017, was located by the public library.

“We knew we couldn’t get everything done in 2017,” Steigerwalt said. Our engineer has gone through it more than once and documented the work that has to be done and gave us reports.

The borough’s engineer is Alfred Benesch and Company in Pottsville, who is going to pull information from the 2017 project.

“After that last project, we asked him for a to-do list. That project was done, and it turned out great. We had stone masons come in and reset the stones and mortar them - they did a great job, it’s a shame you can’t see it.”

The total cost of the entire to-do list is approximately just north of $500,000.

“It’s a combination of things,” Steigerwalt said. “Some sediment removal, some wall repairs. It’s a lot of smaller projects. ... but there’s one larger project that we’re due to do in 5 to 10 years - that would be replacing a section of a culvert under South Railroad Street.”

The culvert replacement project itself would cost about $300,000.

If the borough lands the grant money, it will cover almost the entire list of current necessary repairs. The borough is responsible for a 15% match, which if the borough applied for the maximum $500,000, would come out to a $75,000 match.

“We set aside some tax money each year in a separate fund to accumulate toward future projects in the Wabash. It’d be nice to get everything done and clear that list. In the future, there will be other things,” Steigerwalt added.

“Nothing is forever. It’s inevitable. That was our reason for creating this fund, specifically for the culvert, that we can set aside a little bit of money to accumulate, and when we need it for a project, we can prioritize them.”

Steigerwalt said the grant application must be submitted by May 31.