The Minonk City Council was presented with a Proposed Drainage/Storm Sewer/Sanitary Sewer Plan by Bob Kohlhase and Zack Knight of the Farnsworth Group. Mayor Bill Koos said last year the City had about 14 inches of rain over a period of about three days and that really brought all of the water issues in town to the forefront.
Mayor Koos said that it became quite apparent that we were not going to be able to piecemeal together a fix to this problem and that it was going to take a more holistic approach. One that is bound by financial requirements as well as trying to solve what issues should go first so that we do not exacerbate another problem by solving one of them.
Beginning the presentation, Bob Kohlhase identified the types of problems as flooding that impacts structure, yards, and streets, basement backup because of surcharged (overloaded) sewer pipes, duration of flooding, and overloading of the Sewage Treatment Plant.
Kohlhase said taking water out of the sewer that goes to the sewer plant takes the load off of the plant which then prevents violations in the EPA’s eyes and also gives you capacity to add growth and extends the life of the plant.
Kohlhase identified the reasons for flooding were due to combined sewers that were not designed to handle storm flow, inadequate pipe capacity, extreme or above average storm events, and sump pumps and roof drain connections.
Kohlhase said that as a result of the study the following observations can be made:
• All the water reaches the same creek (Long Point), storm water projects manage the way that the water gets to the creek.
• The City will always have some combined sewers.
• Flooding can never be totally eliminated.
• Reasons for a project can change over time.
• Opportunities for projects change over time.
• A big picture should be used for drainage projects.
• Improving one drainage problem can lessen flooding in other areas. Kohlhase told the Council the most practical way of approaching the problem areas is by prioritizing the areas and selecting the most critical and cost-effective solutions. He said one approach is to classify the potential projects into Tier levels that suggest the first Tier projects should be addressed first and so on. He suggested the following Tier ranking for the twelve areas:
TIER I AREA A----Farm field south of 4th Street at Lincoln Street
AREA B----Lincoln Street and Walnut Street north of 7th Street
AREA D----6th Street lift station drainage basin
AREA G----9th Street and Washington Street
TIER II
AREA C----Elm Court north of 8th Street
AREA I----Mary Street north of 4th Street
AREA K---Ambulance garage area
AREA L----Moran Avenue and Mary Street
TIER III
AREA E----5th Street empty lot
AREA F----Alley west of Jefferson Street
AREA H----Walnut Street north of 4th Street
AREA J----Short Street and 3rd Street
Kohlhase said you are talking from $100,000 to $300,000 for a project depending on how you bundled it. He broke the figures down as follows:
GROSS PROJECT COST ESTIMATES
• 4th Street Sewer Areas A, F, & H - $307,050
• Lincoln/Walnut Sewer Area B - $113,850
• 9th Street Sewer Areas G & K - $207.000
• Northeast Drainage Improvements Areas C & L - $155,250
• Westside Drainage Improvements Area D - $124,200
• Southeast Drainage Improvements Areas I & J - $103,500 The total cost for all projects is around $1.1 million.
Library Board Changes
Mayor Koos reported that Shelley Butler has resigned from the Filger Library Board. Alderman Hill reported that the Filger Library Board has a replacement for her and that it is Robert Turner.
Census Reminder
Alderman John Hill reported that the Census Bureau has asked the City to assist in raising awareness for the fact we have a census coming. Hill said we need to inform people that it is our duty and each individual’s duty to comply because the numbers gathered affects our representation in Congress and also our income from federal and state grants. He added that Doug Elder will be going to some of the different businesses in Minonk and asking them to post signs raising awareness about the census and he, himself would also be attending a school board meeting in the next month or so to raise awareness that the census will be coming next March and April.
City Administrator's Comments
• Reported the Christmas lights installation is nearly complete.
• Reported that the handicapped sidewalk ramps on Fifth Street from Chestnut Street to the West Side Park are now finished.
• Stated that if we get warm dry spell of a few days, we got one more stretch we would like to do yet this fall and we will be right back at it in the spring.
• Reported that the administrator’s office remodeling was finished.
• Announced that all of the tile floors at City Hall will be refinished Tuesday night and ready for business as usual on Wednesday morning.
Mayor's Comments
• Reported to the public that the City will be selling off Section 6 which will bring in revenue to the City and that it has been the general feelings on this Council that this revenue is probably going to be used for infrastructure improvements.
• Stated that is what facilitated this study by the Farnsworth Group because we wanted to make sure what we were doing is utilizing the money correctly in infrastructure improvements.
• Reported that this master plan was voted on and enacted simply with the hope that we are going to have an influx of this money and we can start planning for how we are going fix these drainage problems and finance them.