02/18/1997 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Council Minutes of 2/18/97 flooding in the past it helps us to identify how and where the flooding occurred. As Mr. ~~~ ~,,~ Bohlmann stated, there are many types and reasons for flooding. (At this point, Mrs. Solderitsch and the Mayor had a very lengthy discussion about high city property taxes and the condition of the city's sewers. Mrs. Solderitsch wondered why, with all the retail in this city, the property taxes are so high and the sewers need work. Mayor Boyle explained that the city gets a very small portion of property taxes. The bulk of property taxes goes to the school system, with the county receiving a small portion and the city receiving the smallest portion. However, the city does receive income taxes. As to the city's sewers, the city has been working on the problems for seven years and most of the problems are corrected. Allendale/Carey is one area which the city is currently addressing. Mayor Boyle said that the city made temporary repairs trying to find the right solution, and he would not allow the city to do a permanent "Band-Aid" solution. At this point, the engineering is not complete so we do not know the cost of the project so the money cannot be appropriated. Mr. Bohlmann said that the engineering was about 85% complete. Mr. C?'Grady agreed with the Mayor's statement that the city cannot proceed until the engineering is complete. He assured Mrs. Solderitsch that Ward IV Councilman Mr. McKay and other Council members are very aggressively addressing this issue. Mr. Bohlmann came to the podium with a copy of the letter/questionnaire and read some of the questions. He said it did not ask if residents were currently getting flooding. The first question was, "How long have you lived at that address?" Second question, "How many times in the last ten years have you had water in your basement? 1 - 2; 3 - 5 or 6 or more?" Third question, "Were you flooded on the following dates? May, 1989; August, 1994; June, 1995; July, 1995?") Dennis Lambert, 25057 Carey Lane, wanted to speak about the Allendale/Carey situation since he lives at the top of the sewer system. He personally has had flooding only when there is a power failure and the sump pump cannot work. The problem at his home is that during a heavy rain his sump pumps into a sewer that is filled. The level of his garage drain rises like a lake and then goes down as the sewer allows it to drift away down towards the other homes. He believes the sewers in his area travel downhill. They apparently go out toward the river and somehow Butternut Ridge Apartments are hooked in with a 4 foot line and it is all tied into a 12 or 24 inch line. Basically the problem is that an awful lot of water is being put into a very small outlet. Mr. Lambert also feels another problem could be the possibility of underground streams in this area. Eric Phillips, 5676 Allendale, also spoke about the sewer problems. He would like to know how the 11 acres between the Butternut Ridge Apartments and the Moen property will be drained when it is developed. Mr. Bohlmann said that, as we have developed our engineering services for the new storm sewer that will go down Butternut Ridge Road across Columbia Road and into the valley, we have taken into consideration the development of that property. The storm sewer was sized properly to handle Moen, Butternut Ridge Apartments and whatever develops on that vacant parcel. Moen does have a very large retention basin on their property, but the water does ultimately go into the same general direction as the apartments. Mayor Boyle noted that the city's retention laws are now more stringent than when Moen was built. As to the sanitary line, Mr. 12