Jefferson’s Department of Public Works are set to take on some of the roads that have been a drain on the community.

Specifically the DPW has a plan to fix some drainage problems on Yacht Club Drive, Notch Road, West Shawnee Trail and other roads in 2013, a DPW official said.

Assistant municipal engineer Ed Haack, during the council’s budget meeting last Wednesday, depicted the department’s plan to fix about $270,000 in drainage issues on a few key roads residents have been calling about for a few years.

Haack said the West Shawnee project, which “has been on the backburner for awhile,” is a priority, and he has already told residents that the DPW aims to execute it this year.

“We are in the process of identifying where the water is coming from,” Haack said. “I was out there today. We’re going to dig some test pits.”

Similarly, Haack said Notch Road residents have been waiting for drainage fixes for at least four years, while Yacht Club Drive residents have waited even longer. Business Administrator James Leach said the township has done three or four other drainage jobs on Yacht Club Drive over the past 15 years and that this project will be the “last piece.”

The department also plans to do some drainage work on Lorretacong Drive and Arrowhead Trail, where water lines were replaced due to contaminated wells.

“We had a hard time with some residents capping the wells,” Leach said. “The issue has been resolved, and we’ll get the wells capped this spring.”

Lorretacong and Arrowhead are also on the project list for 2013 to be paved, but Haack said he doesn’t want to rush the drainage installation to start paving quicker.

There are also a couple of drainage projects that Haack suggested the department tackle in 2014. The focus in 2013 for those areas, which include Krasco Road and Fredericks Road, will be to get them designed and permitted.

Haack said that if the DPW does some of the identified projects in-house, it could reduce costs by about 15 percent. However, the downside would be that some other projects might have to be pushed aside.

“Sometimes smaller contractors can handle some of these jobs, and the can focus on just that one project,” he said. “When we do it in-house, we’re putting something off.”

Haack said he’d recommend putting the projects out to bid so that it would allow the DPW to do other smaller drainage projects throughout the year. He said it would also free the department to handle various occurrences, such as storms, snowfall or leaves falling.