Take Action: East Towne Flooding
Budget & Finance Committee MeetingTuesday, March 13
If you feel the current over-burdened storm water pipes should be fixed to mitigate future overland flooding, please contact our aldermen immediately! This will be voted on Tuesday, March 13.Please share this information with your neighbors as we need to spread the word quickly.
ASK:
Please recommend replacing the storm water pipes per the recommendation of our City Engineers and encourage work to be done, wherever possible, in concert with other work scheduled to be done for possible cost savings and decrease in disturbance.
WHO:
5th district AldermanBobby Pantuso [mailto]bpantuso@wauwatosa.net[/mailto]Michael Walsh [mailto]mwalsh@wauwatosa.net[/mailto]
WHY:
During the last large flood, hundreds of East Towne homes and neighborhood businesses were impacted by overland flooding. Core streets, including Center, North, Meinecke, and Clarke, were impassable during the storm.The City Engineering Department has run tests and worked with consultants to determine the best course of action to provide long-term mitigation of storm water flooding in our neighborhood. They have recommended replacement of current storm water pipes with larger ones. Though this replacement would be very costly, if approved, it could be done in concert with other work being done by MMSD and the City of Milwuakee thereby reducing disturbance and some possible cost savings. In addition, it would mitigate overland flooding in the future.Unfortunately, due to the high cost of this project, the Budget and Finance Committee has not approved this measure to the council, but instead has asked for a side-by-side comparison of the cost to fix the overland flooding and the cost of damage to residences and businesses. In other words, was the overall damage enough to warrant fixing the problem?Aside from the thousands of dollars in immediate damage, we are all aware of the negative impact this has on our property values. In addition, due to road closures throughout our neighborhoods, emergency crews did state at the committee meeting that their concern was their inability to access several neighborhoods—which were in greatest need of during the flooding.If you feel the current over-burdened storm water pipes should be fixed to mitigate future overland flooding, please contact our aldermen immediately! This will be voted on next Tuesday.
Below is an excerpt from the committee meeting minutes concerning flooding:
BUDGET & FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETINGTuesday, February 28, 2012
Schoonmaker Creek Watershed Stormwater Flooding study
The committee reviewed a memo from the City Engineer regarding Tosa Eastown/Schoonmaker Creek Watershed Stormwater Flooding Analysis. In recent years the Tosa Eastown area (Schoonmaker Creek Watershed) has experienced overland flooding during extreme rain events. This flooding has resulted in stormwater entering people’s homes through doors and basement windows. In 2011, the Common Council authorized a study of overland flooding in this area.Mr. Wehrley said this presentation complements the sanitary sewer presentation we had last fall. This covers the land in Wauwatosa and City of Milwaukee that drains down into Schoonmaker Creek. Mr. Wehrley said the cost to solve the problem is a phenomenal amount of money.Gary Raasch, of R. A. Smith National, presented the stormwater analysis to the committee. The purpose of the study was to identify stormwater system improvements to reduce frequency and severity of surface flooding. Overall the inspection results showed the storm sewers in good condition with a few problem areas. The watershed components include 75 subbasins, 175 sewer or channel segments. The study shows the area where the sewers are deficient for a 10-year storm event. Different alternative were shown on how to remedy this. Unresolved flooding areas include State Street and 62nd Street, and 74th Street and Center Street. The estimated capital costs range from $35,800,000 to $77,000,000.Mr. Wehrley reminded the committee that the City is required to mitigate the areas which have excess sewer flow as previously noted. The stormwater side is strictly a policy decision. Some cost savings may be seen by combining some of the work. The City Engineer reported that MMSD has work scheduled south of State Street by Hart Park. The City may be in a situation where MMSD does their work and then restores everything only to have the City come in the next year and tear everything up. There are time constrains when decisions have to be made. In addition to the structural flooding, in 2010, State Street, Lloyd Street, North Avenue, Meinecke Avenue and Center Street were all closed due to street flooding. It is difficult for the Fire Department to maneuver around town for a high spot to avoid street flooding.Mr. Wehrley asked the committee how they would like the department to proceed. Would they like to pursue continued investigations? If so, should the consultants work together to arrive at a detailed joint scope of work and cost estimate to combine the two plans.Ald. Donegan asked for further evaluation on the number of homes involved and what were the repair costs to these homes? Would it be better to purchase the homes outright if the number of homes is minimal? Mr. Wehrley said that does not address the street flooding issue.
Moved by Ald. Donegan, seconded by Ald. Berdanto recommend analysis at a higher level to include an evaluationof financial damage done to parcels in this area by a 10-year stormand the cost to solve the problem – Ayes: 6 Noes: 1