BOARDMAN — As the township continues its efforts at stormwater management and flood mitigation, officials also are reflecting on how well completed projects are functioning.

Overwhelming storms on July 5, including a tornado, left a trail of damage across Boardman and other parts of Mahoning County. But what they did not leave was the same degree of flood damage many residents have come to expect.

Township Administrator Mark Ragozine and his predecessor Jason Loree said the township’s stormwater infrastructure improvements worked exactly as intended.

“I got several calls about flooding. Most of that was due to power failure that led to sump pumps turning off,” Ragozine said. “But as far as stormwater runoff, I couldn’t be more pleased with how that infrastructure has handled that event, and it gives us hope for future storms. If we get extended rainfall, we know they’ll work even better because they’ll have more time to handle it. That’s something ABC (Water and Stormwater District) and Boardman Township can certainly hang their hats on.”

As much as 2 inches of rain fell in about 30 minutes during the storm that downed more than 1,000 trees and carried wind speeds between 70 mph and 100 mph.

Ragozine said two or three years ago, before the Forest Lawn Stormwater Park was completed, along with several other stormwater projects, flooding from an event like Sunday’s would have been far worse.

Loree — who still represents the township on the ABC Board and oversaw the completion of Forest Lawn — said the park did its job.

“It’s supposed to detain the water back and slowly release it into the system, allowing water downstream to be released first,” he said. “I was fortunate enough to be able to get a ride down to the site and I got to see it at work, first-hand. The other detention areas that were established in the floodplain north of Boardman Lake also functioned wonderfully.”

The township, along with ABC, has worked for years to minimize stormwater damage, and several projects have been completed since 2024, including Forest Lawn, and others are underway.

Trustees approved multiple resolutions Wednesday that will continue that work. Perhaps the most significant, in the wake of Sunday’s storms, is the Erskine Avenue project.

Last year, ABC sent an engineering firm into the townships it serves to assess problem areas. The large culvert on Erskine received a failing grade, and the township closed the road for safety concerns.

“We didn’t want anyone getting hurt. You never know if a garbage truck or fire truck, or a school bus, even a car, is going to go over that, you don’t know when it’s going to fail,” said Road Superintendent Kim Blasco.

In addition to road safety concerns, the culvert is a primary conduit for the water that flows out of Forest Lawn Stormwater Park. Should the culvert collapse, the park could not manage the water volume it would accumulate during a major storm and the flooding in the immediate area could be devastating. Forest Lawn is intended to minimize flood risks for more than 1,500 homes.

Trustees on Wednesday approved a bid from Rudzik Excavating for between $361,322 and $365,725 for the culvert replacement. That project will be covered by a five-year low-interest loan from the Ohio Public Works Commission, and ABC will pay that loan back entirely.

Blasco said the project should start around the end of August after some utility companies get their infrastructure moved out of the project line. She said they hope to have it completed before winter.

On Wednesday, trustees approved motions to transfer the lot at the front of the Forest Lawn Stormwater Park property from ABC to the township, to allow Boardman to apply for an Ohio Department of Natural Resources NatureWorks grant to support the construction of an educational pavilion.

When the park opened in October, Mark DeLisio of engineering firm Verdantas said ABC already has $750,000 in grant funding for the pavilion and Verdantas will work with them to seek another $500,000 for the project.

Phase 1 of the Colleen Drive project was largely completed in 2025 at a cost of about $472,000. From Colleen Drive to Lockwood Boulevard, the township replaced a triple-barrel pipe system to guide the water from Lockwood Village along a natural water course.

Former Road Superintendent Marilyn Sferra Kenner said the pipes in the area were so deteriorated they caused holes in residents’ yards and partially collapsed a driveway.

This week, trustees approved the low construction bid for Phase 2 of that project, which includes partially removing a stormwater pipe behind several residences, and lining other portions of the pipe, as well as adding a few inlets.

Kenner said in 2024 that phase two is budgeted for about $1.5 million. The construction bid from TK Excavating is $584,409 but that does not include the engineering and design phase or construction management costs, which will bring the final cost closer to the budgeted number.

The project also will be paid for by an OPWC loan, with full repayment from ABC.

“The district is really trying to focus on development projects and increasing capacity for detention throughout the township,” Loree said. “We have a complete list of our projects on the ABC District website for those that are interested. Currently, we are collecting survey data for a specific project area in the township as it relates to our $47 million FEAM Flood Mitigation Assistance grant.”

Kenner, who is still an administrator with the ABC Water District, said the environmental documentation phase of that project is about halfway done and by September, ABC hopes to have clean designs for most of the projects that will be included in the FEMA grant.

ABC is seeking information related to flooding on properties between Boardman Plaza on the western end of Route 224 between Glenwood Avenue and Market Street. Residents and business owners can visit the district website to print the map.

A Federal Emergency Management Agency grant will fund a comprehensive overhaul of the Cranberry Run watershed, to remove stormwater from the overloaded drainage system before it reaches the neighborhoods and commercial district.

The main thrust is a new stormwater conduit that will run north along Glenwood Avenue to intercept and divert runoff to detention basins and ultimately into Mill Creek Park. The project also includes retrofitting the existing stormwater system, restoring and naturalizing portions of Cranberry Run, and constructing nature-based stormwater features around Boardman Plaza. Ideally, the collective improvements will slow runoff, reduce erosion, separate stormwater from the sanitary system where possible, and substantially reduce the chronic flooding that has plagued Boardman for decades.

In addition to Forest Lawn, Erskine and Colleen, Boardman has invested in flood mitigation projects in multiple neighborhoods, mostly around the troubled Cranberry Run watershed.

On Pierce Drive, ABC rehabilitated a deep storm sewer by installing an internal liner to seal leaking pipe joints. The leaks created recurring sinkholes and washouts in residents’ yards.

On St. Albans Drive ABC replaced a deteriorated stormwater pipe running between two homes after it caused a large sinkhole. That job required a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers because the work occurred within a natural watercourse.

On Baymar Drive, in September 2024, crews repaired the failing storm sewer by replacing the most deteriorated sections of pipe and lining the remaining portions, eliminating holes that had developed in the roadway and adjacent yards.

On Pennsylvania Avenue, near El Vallarta Mexican restaurant, the township replaced the deteriorated concrete lid on a box-style catch basin originally installed by ODOT after years of damage from road salt and traffic. The work restored a key component of the stormwater drainage system near the Poland Village line.

The projects continue and much progress has been made, officials say, but they cannot mitigate all of the problems homeowners face as a result of some of the faulty infrastructure built in Boardman over decades.

Post-war development happened with little or no stormwater retention planning. Streams were piped or channelized with homes built immediately adjacent to them. U.S. Route 224 and commercial development added numerous miles of impervious surface, and many older homes still have footing drains tied into the sanitary sewer.

Many of those homes experienced sanitary backups during Sunday’s storm, as they have with countless storms before it.

Blasco and Loree said there is some financial assistance to help prevent that. The best solution is to purchase a backflow prevention system. However, installing one can cost around $8,000, he said.

The process usually involves installing a sump pump and connecting it to the footer drains in the basement, and then putting the backflow prevention valve onto the basement drain to prevent water from coming up through it.

In 2024, the township passed a resolution accepting ABC’s commitment to pay an additional $1,500 on top of the $3,600 Mahoning County already provides to offset that cost.

Loree said residents also can — and should — help monitor the effectiveness of stormwater mitigation systems.

“After big storms, you want to keep an eye on catch basins and on the streets, and if they seem to be holding water and not going down, please contact the township road department to have their truck come out and open them up,” he said.