MSA: Joe DeYoung: (3 of 3); "It's exactly what we expected."
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If you listen carefully to what Joe DeYoung said, he said that much of the the west side of Evansville south of Porter Road was in a flood plain BEFORE the Westfield Meadows subdivision was developed. If Westfield Meadows had never been approved and the rains had occurred, the west side still would have experienced the flooding it experienced. The large detention pond north of Porter Road (which failed because of poor construction, not design) was designed to allow Westfield Meadows to be developed without risk of it being flooded out. In fact, the detention pond north of Porter Road also was designed to reduce the pre-existing flood risk to the houses on the west side of S. 6th St. south of Westfield Meadows, which is in the old Abey-Koth subdivision. The flood-risk problem is within the Abey-Koth subdivision, which was platted many years ago without any storm water management plan. This is exactly what I have been writing on this blog site all along.
ReplyDeleteBill Connors
Former Evansville City Administrator
I don't think anybody ever thought or alleged that 6th street was fine until Westfield Meadows came along. I don't think anybody thought 20 inches of rain over two weeks would have been fine without Westfield Meadows. I do believe people find the two floods in the Spring very suspicious. This area had previously flooded when a 4 inch rain happened over several hours. The rain was not of this intensity in April of 2007 when the flooding occured twice within a week or ten days.
ReplyDeleteThe city had cleaned up the stream exiting the neighborhood which improved the situation. The question is did Westfield excacerbate the situation and negate some of the work that had been performed after the initial flooding several years back.
Add to the mantra...
ReplyDeleteThe map is not the event. The events are not the map.
Just because your feet are wet doesn't mean it's flooding.
Everybody gets rained on. Stormwater is everywhere.
If you push down here it's got to come up somewhere.
Repeat as needed.
Bill,
ReplyDeleteDid you listen to all of the audio? I don't think it is in the video, because it was during the Q&A after the formal presentation. Joe DeYoung said that the Porter Pond was esentially a non-issue because all of the water is coming from the fields West of Abey Koth not the North, when he was questioned about calibrating the culvert at the exit of the Porter Pond (although there was a statement in regard to a net decrease in the flow to the City Pond,as a result of Westfield Meadows, I don't recall the numbers or recall the decrease being attributed to a particular feature). So your statement as far as the Porter Pond is conflicting with Joe DeYoungs statements. Obviously as you stated previously you are allowed to comment and have an opinion whether you attend a meeting or not, but if you listen to the audio carefully, for what it's worth, you may find that you and Joe aren't exactly on the same page as far as the potential of the Porter Pond in alleviating flooding.
Mark,
ReplyDeleteNo, I did not hear that part. But if Joe indeed said ALL of the water is coming from the west (south of Porter Road), that contradicts what Joe said to us in meetings I attended as city administrator and what his firm's first two reports say. The water is coming from the north AND the west. Slowing up the water from the north with the pond north of Porter Road might not be sufficient, but it certainly was necessary, unless MSA has done a new study that contradicts its first two studies.
By the way, Joe and MSA badly wanted to displace Foth as the city's engineering firm. Furthermore, they worked for the developers of Westfield Meadows. They are not exactly unbiased observers.
Bill Connors
Former Evansville City Administrator
One side of town wants a lake and the other wants to prevent one.... just let the water go where mother nature sends it and leave well enough alone. If your yard gets wet, it will dry.....try planting grasses that enjoy the wetness. If your problem is your basement and you want it finished, then you should have built a second story on your home.....and if that floods then complain to the city.
ReplyDeleteTo the last anon, what kind of goofy comment is ' complain to the city?' What do you think they have been doing. . Yep thats worked well for them.
ReplyDeletePlant Grass so it can get washed away?
Try living there we will see what you think of your suggestions then.
The only comment I agree with is the lake.
I would not have purchased a house in an area that floods. If you ask anyone that has lived here for years, that was a wet spot to begin with. If you want a dry yard and basement, you should have built out past the old water tower. It's high and dry. Its like building a house next to Worthington ag parts and complaining about water. Duh...its wet...we know...we knew...or you should have....
ReplyDeleteAlot of these people who bought on the west side , are not from here orginally.. They had no idea what areas of town are wet and what are dry. OR if the sheep and goats float at the ag parts store because the water gets so deep. That is not fair to blame people for buying there. Who would think, hey if I buy here, when it rains I have lake access.. Cool... maybe even a pool in my basement. hotdog!!! Come on.
ReplyDelete