Posted on May 6, 2019
KALAMAZOO, MI — After replacing a furnace twice because of damage from two separate floods in 2017 and 2018, a Kalamazoo business owner hopes the city’s efforts to dredge ponds nearby will help alleviate the perennial flooding in the area along Crosstown Parkway.
The $1 million project, now underway, focuses on one of the most flood-prone parts of the city and includes dredging at the Crosstown Ponds and cleaning along the Axtell Creek culverts.
During the floods of 2017, Nancy Stone said, the furnace at the building she and her husband own sustained water damage and had to be replaced. The building at the corner of Forest and South Park streets houses her business, Park Place Real Estate, and her husband’s business, Mid-America Appraisal Co., Stone said. During flooding in 2018, the new furnace, mounted on the basement’s ceiling, was damaged and had to be replaced again.
On May 2, 2019, Stone said some minor flooding has impacted her parking lot this year. She was happy to see the city of Kalamazoo begin removing sediment from a pond and cleaning culverts.
Workers are removing sediment from Pond 1 at the Crosstown Ponds, and inspecting and cleaning the Axtell Creek Culverts, according to a statement about the dredging project posted on the city’s website. Heavy equipment was on-site and dredging was already underway on May 2, with a pile of dredged material nearby.
Sediment will be removed from Pond 1, which is bordered by Park Street to the west, Crosstown Parkway to the east and Forest Street to the north, according to the city.
The project is meant to restore the Crosstown Ponds back to their original design capacity — to help reduce the impact of rain storms lasting a full 24 hours with a total rainfall amount between two and three inches, the city said.
Equipment is set up at Forest Street, which will be closed in both directions between Park and Rose for the duration of the project. Some vegetation will be removed from Forest Street during the project. Forest Street was chosen because it has the least amount of vegetation so that as little impact as possible would be made to the surrounding vegetation, according to the city.
Once the sediment is removed from the pond the water will be taken out and put back into the pond, and the sediment removed will be sent off-site. Removing the water helps to reduce the weight of the sediment. Different parts of Rose Street will be impacted during the de-watering portion of the project at the pond.
During the second phase of the larger effort, the quality of the Axtell Creek culverts along Crosstown Parkway will be examined and sediment will be removed to clean them as necessary, according to city officials. During that part of the work, there will be equipment in the streets along Crosstown Parkway and Burdick Street with minor traffic control.
Stormwater from Axtell Creek flows into the Crosstown Ponds, first through Pond 1, then Pond 2 and then through Pond 3, dropping sediment into the ponds as the water travels. The water then flows through the Axtell Creek culverts before ultimately reaching Portage Creek.
The Crosstown Ponds allow sediment to settle out of the traveling stormwater into an accessible area, which allows for routine maintenance efforts. This stormwater system is not connected to the city’s sanitary sewer system. Kalamazoo is unique in the fact that it has a separated sewer system, meaning that sewage and stormwater are diverted into different pipes, the city said.
The overall project is planned for completion in August.
The budget for the effort is more than $1 million, the city said, with $706,250 budgeted for Crosstown Ponds dredging and $378,550 budgeted for the Axtell Creek culverts. The project information page lists the Foundation for Excellence and Stormwater Asset Management, & Wastewater (SAW) Grant as funding sources for the work.
For Stone and her husband, the financial costs of flooding in previous years was significant. They had private flood insurance in place for the 2017 and 2018 damage. But with the two recent claims, Stone said, they were forced to seek insurance through Federal Emergency Management Agency instead, at a cost of at least five times the previous amount.
The city delivered sandbags to Stone’s business this spring, she said, as water crept up into their parking lot. As of Thursday afternoon, the floodwaters had swallowed five out of six of their parking spots.
Flooding has not been significant so far this spring, she said, compared to the events in 2017 and 2018. Though Stone is worried one strong storm could change that and further damage their property.
The city is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop hydraulic modeling and flood inundation mapping for the Kalamazoo River, Portage Creek and Axtell Creek. The goal of that study is to provide real-time flood inundation maps for emergency response as well as to better understand the river dynamics including flow characteristics and flooding impacts from different scenarios. The model and results of this study may be used in consideration of future floodplain mitigation and emergency management.
Related to the city’s flooding issue, Kalamazoo officials remind property owners that they can request to have the city install a sanitary sewer backflow preventer on the property’s sanitary sewer service. If a public sanitary sewer becomes overly full, backflow preventers can help prevent public sewage from flowing backwards into a private sanitary sewer. Call 269-337-8148 for more information.
Source: mlive.com
