11/06/1996 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 11/6/96 Lori Yorkavitz, 28180 Gardenia Drive, said her home had flooded in 1989, 1994 and 1995. She has had conversations with City Engineer Deichmann and Assistant Engineer Griffith. After checking the charts for Gardenia Drive, Mr. Griffith told her that the storm sewer drains are too small. As Gardenia turns into Azalea, the Azalea pipes are much larger. It is her belief that Mrs. Troyer was trying to say that when the area gets a large rainfall in a short period of time, that is when flooding occurs. Mrs. Yorkavitz said that Mr. Bohlmann had indicated that a reservoir could be placed on Lansing Drive to accommodate the excess water until the drains in Bay Village and Westlake are cleared. She is worried because the plans are not definite, and she fears flooding in the spring. Mrs. Yorkavitz said that she and other residents hold their breath when it rains. Mayor Boyle repeated that the city is addressing the flooding problem in that area. The Ehle Ditch has been widened--some people have complained about this--to get the water out of this area. It now flows into Westlake which has a major reservoir. He understands that residents are holding their breath when it rains, and they will continue to do so when the repairs are made. He knows firsthand about flooding--both the homes he has owned in the city have flooded. The city is taking every step to make sure that the flooding does not reoccur. The proof is in the numbers. The September storm was a major storm, and the area did not flood. This was a storm that could have flooded the area but did not. Mrs. Troyer again came to the podium to re-state her frustrations. Mayor Boyle responded that, if Mrs. Troyer took his statements to mean that flooding is gone, he apologizes. What he said was that flooding is virtually eliminated, and he believes the numbers support that statement. You can never say that it is eliminated when we have the type of soil that we have, with the conditions that exist and if the city doesn't take continuing actions of sewer maintenance. Maintenance is an obligation that he does accept, and he stands by his words that we are far ahead. Mr. Bohlmann came to the podium and thanked the Mayor for defending him. However, he did give a quote to Julie Sowa of the Sun Herald on the 5 inches of rain. At the time he gave that quote, he was relying on figures from the LeBern lift station. Later on, information from the weather station on top of the police station, which is far more accurate than the LeBern equipment, showed that the rain was in excess of 6 inches. Ms. Sowa did not misquote him, but he was in error. Regarding Forest Ridge, the study has been received from Western Reserve Engineering, and he has given a copy to Mrs. Troyer. We are in the process of evaluating the report and have not made any definite decisions at this time. We are going to put some type of underground retention basin in that area. However, the size has not yet been determined. We have some other jobs that have gone out to bid and for which we are doing engineering services. Full evaluations will be done shortly, and the residents will be notified at that time. We will then send out requests for proposals for full engineering services. At this time, he does not have a timetable for construction. Recently, a contract was awarded to United Survey for some sanitary main repair in the Forest Ridge area at a cost of $60,000. In the next several weeks, we will begin sanitary main line repair of cracked and disjointed pipes that were identified through videotaping. The work will be mostly on Berkshire Drive with some on Devon Drive. Mayor Boyle commented that the city is committed to this endeavor. In 1989, the city used only consulting engineers. When he became Mayor, two engineers were hired to affect the fix-up. This year, the city hired an internationally recognized environmental engineer who has helped with the fix-up and is responsible for 9 ..~ . ,~~. ~a .>.~w,....