A new stormwater management agreement looks to address sinkholes discovered at the construction site of a new and nearly completed Mount Nittany Health outpatient center.
Patton Township supervisors want to address short- and long-term problems at the Toftrees Planned Community development. Toftrees West is part of a 700-acre planned community in Patton Township. Mount Nittany Health Toftrees is the only business at the site so far.
Amy Farkas is the Patton Township manager. She said construction crews discovered several sinkholes at the site’s stormwater basin, which is an artificial pond with vegetation meant to collect water runoff.
“The soil is very sandy, and we've had a lot of torrential rains back in the spring. So we're looking at ways that we can shore up that basin so we don't have future problems," Farkas said.
Farkas said a new stormwater management agreement gives the site’s developer two months to repair those and any future sinkholes. Farkas said Pennsylvania’s karst geology makes it prone to sinkholes.
“So that's why we want to have the ability that if we start to see more problems, we can say, ‘Oh, we need to really reevaluate where this basin is.' Or, 'We need to reevaluate the fix that has been done,'" Farkas said.
Mount Nittany Health hasn’t given an exact opening date for its Toftrees West outpatient center, but its website says “opening mid 2024.” A spokesperson said the basin damage did not affect the outpatient center.
