By KEVIN NEVERS

Fixing a long-standing drainage problem in the 1700 block of South 11th Street would be too costly to justify the expense.

At its meeting Monday night, the Stormwater Management Board repeated its determination, first made in June 2007, that this particular drainage problem is not a high enough priority at this time and that the $30,000 which Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg estimated a remedy would cost could be better spent on other projects.

The issue arose again after the homeowner who originally complained to Schnadenberg last year complained again in a letter dated Feb. 22. In that letter and in his original letter, dated May 19, 2007, the homeowner indicated that a basement leak issue was not disclosed when he purchased the house and that heavy rains typically leave him with standing water in his front yard.

In a letter of his own, dated Feb. 25, Schnadenberg once again stated his judgment that the installation of a drain would cost in the neighborhood of $30,000, since there is “no place close and easy to connect to.”

At Monday’s meeting Schnadenberg told the Stormwater Management Board that the basement leak is probably due to another factor as well: a high water table in the area. In any case, he advised members, $30,000 would go a long way—just for example—to enclosing and piping the open ditches on the north side of West Porter Ave. between 20th and 23rd streets. That specific project is not currently on the Stormwater Management Board’s table, but Schnadenberg remarked that when it’s time to spend $30,000 it would be better to do so on a project like that one which will benefit many homeowners, not one or two.

Schnadenberg added that 20 years ago he happened to live next door to the home in question and the drainage problem was about as bad then as it is now.

MS4 101

In other business, MS4 Operator Jennifer Gadzala announced the scheduling of an MS4 seminar for contractors, subcontractors, and developers to be held at 9 a.m. May 7 at the town hall. The purpose of the seminar will be to walk them through the complexities of permitting, pre-treatment, best management practices, and other issues related to erosion and sediment control on building sites.

Members voted 3-0 to approve an expenditure of $95 for a training kit, including a 14-minute video, to assist Gadzala, Town Engineer Mark O’Dell, and Building Commissioner Mike Orlich in bringing builders up to speed on MS4.

The Municipal Storm Sewer Separation System or MS4 program is a federal mandate administered by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management which requires municipalities to monitor and regulate every aspect of stormwater run-off. A large portion of that program concerns erosion and sediment control on all construction sites larger than an acre.

Placemats

Meanwhile, the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission—with which the Town of Chesterton and a score of other communities has contracted to do MS4 education and outreach—has just completed the design of a children’s MS4 placement which NIRPC is hoping local restaurants will use.

They’re “really great,” Gadzala said, and do a good job introducing kids to the importance of stormwater quality.

Contract Review

Members voted 3-0 to instruct Associate Town Attorney Chuck Parkinson to review the Stormwater Utility’s contract with Symbiont of Milwaukee, Wis., which provided the Stormwater Utility with a database called STORM originally intended to produce monthly and annual reports for IDEM on the status of the MS4 program.

The problem, Gadzalla informed members, is that she has since discovered that she needs to pull numerous categories of information from the database besides the monthly and annual reports. But Symbiont—which actually subcontracted the design of the software to another firm—did not give her the source codes which would allow her to access that information.

Parkinson will review the contract with an eye to determining whether the Stormwater Utility is entitled to those source codes without paying an extra fee.

Enforcement Ordinance

Members voted 3-0 to instruct Parkinson to prepare a draft of an ordinance which would establish a schedule of actions and fines which the Stormwater Utility would pursue for various classes of violation, like illicit and illegal discharges and prohibited runoff from construction sites.

Flow Meters

Members also voted 3-0 to authorize an expenditure of $12,575 for the purchase of three flow meters. Those meters should help the Stormwater Utility identify places of infiltration and inflow of stormwater and ground water in the town’s sanitary sewer system.

February in Review

In February the Stormwater Utility ran a surplus of $8,454 and in the year-to-date is running a surplus of $12,626. Last month a total of $514,527 was available for projects in three different accounts: Cumulative Sewer ($409,566), Capital Projects ($70,000), and Stormwater Project 2000 ($34,961)

Posted 3/18/2008