When city officials checked a sewer running through Washington Road resident Norm Cristea’s property in 2003, they said it was sound.
Six years later, the sewer broke, causing a sinkhole in his yard.
“It’s an old plain pipe sewer that’s cracked and broken,? said Gary Tressel of Hubble, Roth, and Clark engineering firm. ‘It’s probably the recent thaw and rain that highlighted it and caused it to fail.?
Meeting with Clarkston City Council, Monday, Tressel said he called a contracting company to bid on relocating the sewer closer to Clarkston Mills, owned by Ed Adler.
“Subject to a modified drawing, Mr. Adler said he is 80 percent on board. He had some other people to talk to and would like to see the drawing,? said Tressel. ‘We will require an easement from the homeowner as well.?
Cristea said the easement, granting the city permission to do the work, was not a problem. However, he was concerned about removing trees screening the two properties, and possible damage to his house.
Landscaping issues could be avoided by going down Cristea’s driveway, Tressel said.
“Then you wouldn’t have to go to Mr. Adler at all,” he said. “It would be all on the homeowner’s property, trees would not be damaged. The length would be a little shorter.?
Councilwoman Kristy Ottman said she had a hard time seeing the advantage of going under the driveway.
“It just seems to me it’s less expensive to put in semi-mature evergreens than it is asphalt,? she said.
Councilman Jim Brueck agreed.
“The more I think about it, if Mr. Adler and his company is willing to allow us to come down that 15-foot setback, I think it’s a better prospect versus tearing up the guy’s complete driveway and getting close to the house with excavation,? said Brueck. “The house is already somewhat compromised. Let’s not exasperate the issue.?
Mayor Stephen Arkwright said he wasn’t sure Adler’s property should be involved.
“Maybe I am missing something, but we’re bringing somebody else into the mix that’s not involved in it,? he said. ‘It’s not Mr. Adler’s problem. We’re asking a whole other property owner to get involved who has nothing to do with it at all.?
Brueck made a resolution, approved unanimously, to authorize City Manager Dennis Ritter to get three bids for easements down the driveway, as well as Adler’s property. It also authorized work to start as soon as possible.
The job should take two weeks, Tressel said.
“I think it’s a step in the right direction and I know we need to get the existing drain rerouted because the other one is gone,? said Cristea. ‘I would prefer not to go down our driveway. That would be a really big hassle, and then the other issue is repairing the house. I think coming close to the house with the really big equipment could cause some problems, so we’ll see.?
Cristea brought the issue to the city in 2003 because he noticed cracks in the foundation of his house, he said.
Tressel said there were no ‘major structural problems? when officials checked the sewer at the time. Cristea asked City Council to have the drain rerouted, but no action was taken.
Where the sewer should be located was a stumbling block in 2003, Tressel said.
“I believe there was an official opinion rendered by the city attorney (Tom Ryan) that it had the legal right to be in its position because it pre-existed the house,? Tressel said. ‘The council at that time elected not to move forward with any further action on it because it was active and it was not having any other actual problems other than few cracks around the beam of the pipe.?
A video inspection could not be completed because of the collapse, but they estimate about 20 feet of sewer pipe was damaged, he said.