Response from Utilities re: Stormwater Gullies

[Lucy Schaich]

RESPONSE FROM UTILITIES REGARDING STORMWATER GULLIES

Neighbor Ann Watzel has requested that this exchange regarding Stormwater gullies be shared with the neighborhood. The original letter sent to City Utilities from neighbor Ann Watzel is posted here in the March Meeting Minutes - scroll to bottom of minutes to read.

APR. 20 REPLY FROM VIC KELSON, DIRECTOR, CITY OF BLOOMINGTON UTILITIES

Hello Ms. Watzel,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and concerns with us regarding the stormwater in your neighborhood. I have discussed this with our staff at CBU and here is our response to your recommendations.

Thank you,

Vic Kelson

*Recommendations from neighbor Ann Watzel in BOLD type.

Inspect and repair all drainage gullies, including those hidden behind homes, to their original levels, to allow complete emptying.

The City does not maintain rear yard drainage swales.  The CIty only maintains stormwater within the public right-of-way.  The City does have plans to re-establish the other roadside swales in this neighborhood.

Replace under-driveway drainage wherever needed with appropriately sized tubing to allow fast drainage of the adjacent gully and to keep water off the streets.

Driveway "tubes" are considered part of the driveway and are the responsibility of the property owner to maintain and replace when necessary

Replace Rip-Rap with grass at the needed elevation to assure complete gully drainage.

The riprap is necessary to prevent erosion.  We can inspect the riprap to make sure it is not impeding the flow, but we can not eliminate the use of it at this location for this application.

Repair the defective abutments, especially the one that is dangerous to children.

Which abutments are defective?  Or what about the abutment is defective? These were built according to established construction standards.

Install slope-shaped Child Guards on the Glenwood West exit, & at the primary exit that disappears under 3rd Street and flows under the College Mall property.

We do not install child guards on culverts.  Culvert guards can get blocked with debris in a short amount of time and can cause flooding of private property and public streets that can lead to road hazards and property damage.

Develop hand-outs to be distributed to Park Ridge residents to inform them of the reason for the gullies and how to utilize and care for them to the betterment of the neighborhood.

This is a good idea and we have similar material that our stormwater education team has created in the past.  We can create additional education material that explains this and distribute it.