Public Works Meeting April 23rd to Hear Westside Water Problem details--Public urged to attend

(Ed.note: Here are the emails from Mr. Sauer and Mark Schnepper regarding the recent flooding of the westside. Click on the post for the video of the flooding. )

Mr. Sauer,

I agree in theory the system worked. However, it shouldn't back into peoples yards with a heavy but not unusual spring rain (and hasn't with the exception of when we received 5 inches of rain overnight three or four years ago). The issue I am having trouble grasping is that although the Westfield retention pond and the Sixth St. retention pond are separate, they do indeed share a common avenue out of the area via the stream that runs to croft road. Does the Westfield retention pond enter the stream first when it releases, because it is upstream of the 6th St. detention pond? If so, does this cause the flow rate to be slower in the downstream (6th Street)retention pond, because the upstream retention pond has already raised the streams water level. Or does the Wesfield pond have the holding capacity to let the 6th St. pond empty first before it begins to release water? In other words, how exactly is the flow regulated out of the 6th St. retention pond. These may be separate retention areas, but they seem to be related due to the fact that they share the same exit from the neighborhood. Area residents had concerns that Westfield would intensify water issues in the area, which the Planning Commission ignored the public will on approved this project. Prior to the iniation of Westfield Meadows the improvements that had been implementented over the past couple years seemed to be working. I plan on attending the 4/23 meeting and I look forward to your explanation.

Sincerely,

Mark H. Schnepper
547 S. Sixth St.
Evansville, WI 53536

Mark,

Thanks for your notes concerning stormwater issues in the area of south 6th Street. As you know, I was reviewing the areas of concern on Friday, April 6th with City administrator Dan Wietecha however I have not been able to respond to your note before this time. The stormwater detention basin at the end of the existing greenway has an established vegetative cover and is immediately west of your property. This basin did fill with stormwater during the storm event and did release stormwater at a controlled rate over time since at the time of observation on April 6th, this basin was essentially drained. This is exactly how this basin is to work. It will fill with stormwater dependent upon the amount and the intensity of the storm event and the degree of saturation of existing soil conditions. This basin should normally release stormwater over 3 to 5 days and return to existing conditions prior to the storm event which it appears to have done.

The Westfield Meadows developement has its own conveyance, stormwater control and routing except for the property parcels which are adjacet to the stormwater greenway(14 lots). Last Falls construction of the area on both sides of 6th Street did change this area from agriculture use however any drainage from this area is diverted around the lots on Emmanual Court to the public greenway as it has been in past when the land was agricultural use.

The southgate retention basin has received stormwater from the developing parcels along south 6th Street for the last 2-3 years. Along with stormwater, this pond has received sediment and silt from the various construction sites. Based on my observation of the area on the east side of south 6th Street beyond the city limits where the sites are not yet developed, there remains silt and sediment flowing into the street and ultimately into the southgate pond. We will need to have this stopped and we will again have work to be completed to restore the infiltration capacity of the southgate retention basin. This basin also worked over the recent storm events as it released water through it's overflow through the stormwater easement along the back lot lines to the north of the basin. Once we stop the silt and sediment from entering this basin, this basin will function better than it does today.

In summary, I would offer to have you attend our next public works mtg on April 23rd at 6pm at the public works bldg, 525 S. Madison Street and I will go over some exhibits, maps and time tables of improvements for stormwater control which have occurred over the last 3 to 4 years for the west side of the city. This is a good format for representatives of the city to attend also which we have done before and I believe has been very helpful. If this doesn't work for you, please let me know and we'll work something out to help resolve your concerns.

David K. Sauer, PE, Project Director
1402 Pankratz Street
Suite 300
Madison, WI 53704
Phone 608-242-5941/Fax 608-242-5999
http:\\www.foth.com