HomeMy WebLinkAboutA001 - Letter dated June 2, 1992 from Allen Lang - concerns on storm water management for Brookview Place development To: Ames City Council Members June 2 , 1992
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From: Allen Lang
SOOO W . Ontario
Ames
Re: Storm Water management For the proposed Brookview
Place development
Iltz;ar cnunc:i l HL=5mhaz-_: i
Two weeks ago, I presented my concerns regarding
storm water runoff From the new H&F development ,
Brookview Place, to the Ames Planning and Zoning
Commission . I understand that development will be on your
agenda For the meeting of June 10 . Unfortunately , I will
be out of town at that time and hope that this short memo �
will explain my concerns .
My interest in this stems From the fact that I
live on Clear Creek. downstream From this development and
have had problems with storm water since these same
parties developed Patio Homes hest and Ontario best ,
directly adjacent to the proposed Brookview Place . Th-
attached map shows an area marked "A-1" which appears j
gray . This property is owned by Betty Cott . fly property
is directly south of hers and access to my home is via a i
-Lan h e through her property , whic connects to Ontario
Street . However , my house is on the south side of Clear
Creek , so I have a private bridge to ' allow passage . In my
capacity as an Orthopaedic Surgeon I treat injuries and
am required to be available to the Emergency Room i
whenever on call . At times of high intensity storms,
Clear Creek has historically risen rapidly and ther,
Fallen again . This sometimes causes water to run over the
bridge to a few inches in depth, which can readily be
driven through . However , I now Find that the water levels j
are increasing , and higher levels stau longer . In !
addition, there has been severe erosion and damage at the
site where storm water is presently dumped From the above
additions to the south side of Ontario Street .
In 1978 Ted Sands, whose Family owns the prcpertg !
directly to the west of me, suggested that the proposed
Patio Homes and Ontario best developments could have a
major impact on storm water drainage onto our downstream
properties . He and I then engaged a Water Resources
consultant, Ronald L . Rossmiller, P .E . fly statement of
services From him indicates multiple meetings and
discussions with him and Don Furman of H&F , Paul Wiegand,
Arnold Chantland, Jim Valenta, and Dave Topes of the
city , and Jim Burns of Ames Engineering, who was doing
the storm water control design . Our hope in so doing was
to provide a design that would control storm water runoff
to the extent that it was no worse than prior to
development, either in terms of total volume or peak
Flow . Unfortunately , that effort appears to have failed .
That failure is in only one small part of the Clear Creek
drainage area . 1 can envision that Ames will continue to
expand and grow, and I am delighted to be a resident of
such a dynamic city . However, that growth will result in
urbanization of more and more rural area to the North nd
West of Ames . If that expansion is not done in a
responsible fashion the problems outlined above will be
increased many fold . It is the city that not only must
accept the plans for development , but must monitor
construction as well to insure that the final product is
in accord with those plans .
Please contact me if there are any questions or
clarifications regarding this information .