Marietta officials Tuesday lauded the efforts of volunteers and organizations who aided them in the wake of massive flooding caused by Tropical Storm Lee.

But attention quickly shifted to the status of a flood control project that has been stuck in the design phase for the past 15 years.

During the public comment period of the meeting, resident Carl Jones, 619 W. Market St., asked council about the status of the flood control project. Council president Mim Fletcher said the borough is waiting for a response from the state Department of Environmental Protection-Bureau of Waterways Engineering. "We completed our end of it July 13, 2011," Fletcher said.

Fletcher said she talked with state representatives to secure funding for the first phase of the project. In addition, Fletcher said she has been in touch with Norfolk Southern Railroad. Fletcher said the railroad is in the process of abandoning  2  miles of railway, and it may take a year to get permission from the federal board of transportation.

Fletcher said, "We can do nothing until the Bureau of Waterways completes the initial design of the first phase."

Marietta businesswoman Tracy Beam asked what flood mitigation plan the borough has in place - but not before expressing her gratitude to those who assisted her during the recent flood.

Beam, who is an owner of the Railroad House, 280 W. Front St., thanked firefighters, the Red Cross and residents who helped move furniture to the second floor in advance of the flood. She also thanked those who provided meals and cleaning supplies after 8 feet of water flooded her basement.

Beam then quoted minutes of a meeting borough officials had with DEP experts on April 19, 2010. "Maybe we need a flood before we can address Phase 2," Fletcher said, according to notes written on DEP letterhead. "We do not want to be ever in Phase 3," also was attributed to Fletcher.

Beam said, "Maybe council should explain what the three phases of the plan are and why all three phases are required for the plan to be a success, and put it on a referendum to let the voters vote on whether or not they want to prevent flooding in Marietta."

"If the borough is not willing to take action, then it should be taken to the state and federal level," Beam said.

"Not only did people lose their homes and belongings, but people also lost their jobs, Beam said. "The five largest borough employers - all on Front Street - were shut down for three weeks. One has not reopened."

Beam also said fuel oil from homes was pumped into the street, which feeds storm drains and the river. "What is the borough going to do to prevent it from happening again?"

Fletcher replied, "You obviously don't know the background," before she closed the public comment section abruptly.

"We have done everything in the furtherance of this project," Fletcher said. "In April, we met with DEP's deputy secretary. I was concerned they were not responding quickly enough, so we went to the top."

On Friday, DEP information specialist Lisa Kasianowitz said in an email, "We do not have any record of signed documents dated July 13, 2011." She said two engineers who were working closely on the project are out of the office until next week.

However, Kasianowitz said DEP addressed a letter to Jody Shaffner, borough secretary-treasurer, on Sept. 21, 2010, which outlines three phases of the project.

The letter states: "Upon completion of all three (3) phases, this project will provide flood protection to the residents and businesses in the Susquehanna River and Evans Run area against floods up to, and including, the 100-year flood." The sponsorship letter further states Phase 1 "will not in and of itself provide a high degree of flood protection, but will help during the smaller flood events..."

The letter is accompanied by a key document called a project sponsorship agreement that must be signed by borough officials to move the flood protection project ahead. "To date, DEP-BWE has not received a signed sponsorship document from the borough," Kasianowitz said.

The sponsorship agreement explains the duties and financial responsibilities of the project sponsor, Marietta Borough, and is accompanied by right-of-way drawings. "Only after it is signed can DEP begin land acquisition and final design phase of the project," Kasianowitz said.

Although more than a year old, the agreement is still current and up to date, she said. Thus, the borough must decide whether or not it intends to do the project.

In contrast to Fletcher's assertion that the borough is waiting for engineers to complete initial plans for Phase 1, Kasianowitz said the preliminary design has been completed for all three phases, and a rough overall project cost estimate is $13 million.

A state engineer was scheduled to make a presentation on the flood control project to borough council March 8, 2011. According to minutes of that meeting, Fletcher said "that she canceled" the engineer's visit. "Council member (Barbara) Wilson stated that for the record she had no idea that DEP was not going to be present at tonight's meeting," the minutes state. Furthermore, council member Phyllis Stellfox asked that the minutes reflect that DEP would attend the March meeting.

On Thursday, Fletcher emailed a reporter a prepared statement, unedited and published below in its entirety:

Flood protection for the Borough is a high priority of the Marietta Borough Council.  The Flood Control Project was initiated by me in 1996. The flood control committee of the Borough consists of the Mayor, the President of Borough Council,Councilwoman Stellfox, and Councilman de Vitry and meets as needed.  Rep. David Hickernell and Sen Mike Folmer have been of great assistence to the Borough in pursuit of this undertaking.

The recent flood only serves to underscore the Borough's stance that the most significant threat to the Borough is the back-flow from the Susquehanna River through the storm water drainage outlets.

The sponsorship agreement received from the Bureau of Waterways in Sept. 0f 2010 did not reflect the position agreed upon by the Borough and DEP and initiated new discussions which resulted in my letter of 12July2011 as requested by Deputy Sec. Heffner and from which we await  response.

Phase I of the project which would protect the Borough from river water backing up through the approximately 30 different storm water culverts which outlet into the river is the Phase of most immediate concern to the Borough. This aspect of the flooding occurs most frequently and causes devasting damage to homes and businesses.  We believe the benefit recognized to the Borough by the constructionof this Phase justifies the required expenditure of money and other resources.  For this reason the Borough is most interested to have this Phase completed as soon as possible with the understanding that Phase II and Phase III required for the less frequent, but larger events will be addressed at an appropriate time in the future.

While awaiting response from the State, Council continues to pursue tangential concerns concerning the project as reviewed at the Oct. Council Meeting.

Correspondent Beth Anne Heesen contributed to this report.