City Looks Toward Storm And Sewer Water Improvements

Council President Sam O’Leary called the July 5, 2016 Council meeting to order at 7:32 P.M. The first item discussed was the proposal for the revetment on the lake shore of The Meridian Condominiums. If the proposal were to pass it would help the owners of the Meridian pay for the project by assessing the total to their property taxes to be paid out over 20 years, rather than up front. A number of people were present to speak on the matter, as they have been for the several weeks this has been a topic with Council. Lively comments were made on both sides of the issue from the four people who spoke, one of which was the project engineer.

After listening to the public's comments on the project, Councilmen Tom Bullock (At-Large), Sam O’Leary, and Daniel O’Malley (Ward IV) gave their reasonings for supporting the ordinance before them. The main points were the fact that the ordinance in front of Council has no bearing on whether the project happens or not. Their current vote cannot stop the project. The ordinance in front of them is purely to approve the City to act as the financial agent for the project. All the decisions regarding the maintenance of private property are done by the owners, which is what happened. The Meridian approached the City once it had received the approval from the majority of its owners, which was needed to move forward.

Council passed the ordinance.

Next, Mayor Summers introduced Bob Greytak, a consulting engineer from CT Consultants, to give a presentation on some of the work the City and the has been doing to come into compliance with the Clean Water Act of 1972. Although some work has been done to meet these ends, much is still to be done, and the City has been working diligently to come up with ways do so. The 40 minute presentation included some of the proposed solutions and the financial impact they will have on the City. The Mayor noted that Council will need to become familiar with the issues, strategies, and implementation of these projects so that they might help shape public policy, laws, water and sewer rates, and other aspects of implementation.

The main takeaway from the presentation is that there is too much mixing of storm and sewer water causing a whole host of problems including too much storm water being routed to the treatment plant causing an overload, which results in sewage being dumped into the river and lake. This is compacted by the fact that 70% of the City is impervious surfaces (streets, sidewalks, rooftops), so rather than the water being absorbed by the ground it is being routed to storm drains. Some of the solutions include storm water retention, such as bio-swales, and pervious pavers, such as can be found in some of the municipal parking lots in Downtown Lakewood. These however are not enough to solve the whole problem so other strategies were also discussed, such as separating storm and sewer lines whenever possible, installing a new hybrid system at the treatment plant for high rate treatment during wet weather, and building a 15 million gallon detention basin to temporarily hold water after a storm.

Regardless of the fixes chosen, it is not going to be cheap for the City to bring itself into compliance. The current estimate is pushing up around the $300 million mark. In order to pay for these improvements increases in water and sewer rates are probable. However, as the City’s rates are comparatively lower than those in surrounding communities, it is unlikely that they will grow disproportionally.

Councilman Bullock asked if Mr. Greytak was able to tell him how swimming pools the 170 million gallons of mixed storm and sewer water that the City ejects in to the Lake and River every year would fill. Although Mr. Greytak was not able to offer an answer, Director of Public Works, Joe Beno said that the retention basin the City is considering building is about 500 feet by 250 feet by about 15 feet deep, and that’s only 15 million gallons. Councilmen Bullock thanked Director Beno for the information, but offered that that kind of comparison would be helpful when educating the public.

Council thanked Mr. Greytak for his presentation and said they looked forward to discussing the topic further in committee.

Law Director Kevin Butler then asked Council to consider a six month moratorium on the cultivation, processing or retail sale of medical marijuana. The moratorium would prevent businesses or individuals from growing or selling marijuana within Lakewood for six months allowing the City to properly prepare by outlining the rules and laws that will govern cultivation and dispensaries within the City. With legalization effective on September 8th, and Council on summer break all August, proper time is not available to act effectively.

Council referred the resolution to the Public Safety Committee.

Next, City Planner Bryce Sylvester read a letter to Council from City Planner Jason Russell regarding the donation of gateway improvements to Kauffman Park’s Andrews Avenue entrance from the Lakewood Garden Club in celebration of its 100th anniversary. The improvements will include newly poured stamped concrete, benches, and native plantings that are estimated to cost about $11,000.

Council expressed their gratitude to the Lakewood Garden Club and said they looked forward to seeing the result.

Coming to the end of the agenda a few members of the public addressed Council. One discussed the Meridian revetment project and the remainder discussed Lakewood Hospital.

With no further business or announcements before Council, Council President O’Leary adjourned the meeting at 9:38 P.M.