Storm water from the “perfect storm” on February 28 and the wettest April ever combined to cause a number of flooded yards and basements certain areas around the City including Lake Road and Harvey Parkway, Redwood and James Circle.
Representatives from Avon Lake Municipal Utilities and the City Council Sewer and Public Service Committees met with residents, asking them to join a partnership to mitigate the flooding, at two special meetings on March 24 and May 17, held at City Hall. What has ALMU and the City accomplished in the intervening period?
ALMU staff has removed three stormwater sources on Harvey Parkway, Curtis Drive and Woodstock Avenue, constricted one on Moreland Drive, reconnected a catch basin to the storm sewer on Faye Avenue and disconnected buried catch basins from the sanitary sewer on Bellaire Road, and is investigating other sources. Staff believes some foundation drains are still connected to the sanitary sewer by sump pumps (which is against ALMU regulations) and has instituted a program of basement inspections in formerly combined sewer and other suspected areas. Sump pump discharges can quickly overwhelm sewers during water saturated conditions.
ALMU is proceeding with capital improvements that will help mitigate basement flooding. The Inwood-Dellwood-Bellaire sewer rehabilitation project is scheduled to begin in June, weather permitting. Completion of this work will relieve some of the sewer surcharging on Redwood, near Avon Belden, and on Lake Road. A major sewer separation on Belmar Road and neighboring streets is scheduled for next year, which will provide additional storm drainage in the area.
To date the City has connected an unused combined sewer to the storm sewer and is installing additional catch basins on the south side of Lake Road to send the stormwater directly to Lake Erie. Residents can help by inviting an ALMU representative into your home to inspect your sump pump. It will only take about five minutes to determine if it is sending stormwater to the sanitary sewer—putting you and your neighbors at risk for sewer backups. You can also help to relieve basement flooding by keeping the sewer clean-out pipe in your yard capped. “Don’t be tempted to use it as a yard drain,” said Chief of Utility Operations Rick Eberle.
To learn more about what you can do to reduce the risk of basement flooding go to the ALMU’s website at www.avonlakewater.wpengine.com and download the document “Mitigating Basement Backups”. If you have questions or would like to have your sump pump inspected, please call us at 440-933-6226.
You can also receive basement flooding warnings and other useful information by following us on Twitter (@AvonLakeWater), at ALMU’s website, and our blog online at Avon Lake Patch. We are also making arrangements to use CodeRED, a high-speed emergency notification telephone service. To register for CodeRED go to our website and click on the CodeRED icon.