The sewer studies are one step closer to reality.
The Common Council’s Public Works and Public Property Committee voted unanimously Monday night to recommend moving ahead with two separate studies of our sewer system, in light of the July flooding:
- One, to be done by Applied Technologies, would evaluate the sanitary sewer system at specific areas and make recommendations to reduce inflow and improve system capacity during big rains. The study, which is expected to cost just shy of $30,000 and take four to six months to complete, will specifically look at areas like Parkway Drive/Hemlock Court, Brookdale Drive and Blakewood Court.
- The second, to be done by R.A. Smith National, pertains more specifically to the 4th District. It would evaluate the stormwater system around the Parkway Heights area (the broader neighborhood around Parkway/Hemlock). This study is expected to cost around $12,000.
The full City Council will consider the studies at its meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.
The committee (in front of about 10 residents) had a good discussion about the scope of these studies, and everyone is anxious to get some answers here. These reports will certainly help.
As to the Parkway-area stormwater study, the study will focus on the area between Hemlock and Walnut streets and essentially be an extension of the 2008-09 study work done by R.A. Smith for the area west of Hemlock to 15th Avenue.
According to a memo from our city engineer: “There are numerous intersections that flooded during the July 22 storm, but this area has reported flooding during even minor storm events, and water from the street is ponding to a level where it is entering homes.”
Of course, this is not the only area of the city where this is occurring, and our engineering department continues to investigate and assemble information for other areas of significant flooding, including Blakewood Court and the intersection of 6th and Marion. Some of this analysis may be done internally, without the need for a formal third-party study.
Indeed, I have been impressed to hear about the ongoing work of our engineering and wastewater departments, who continue to do their own analysis of problem areas by going neighborhood to neighborhood, basement to basement in many cases, to learn more about specific issues faced by property owners.
In other flood-related news, new numbers from the city released Monday showed that 416 property owners have reported damage from water and sewer backups related to the July 22 storms, and the Street Department has picked up nearly 89 tons of flood-damaged debris since July 26.
Repair work in the 200 blocks of Hawthorne Avenue is “substantially completed,” with one lane opening soon.
