Despite a pending lawsuit from 19 plaintiffs seeking compensation after they were allegedly damaged by village drains, sewers, and the millpond in the village’the Genesee County Drain Commissioner’s Office, one of seven defendants in the case, plans on moving forward with work on a major infrastructure upgrade project. In addition to the Genesee County Drain Commissioner, defendants also include the Village of Goodrich, Division of Surface Water Management, Division of Water and Waste Services, and the Goodrich Country Club.
On Sept. 17 the drain commissioner’s office issued a letter to the Village of Goodrich in response to a February meeting regarding the progress on needed repairs to the Wheelock & Watkins Drain.
The Wheelock & Watkins Drain is an agricultural drain, built in 1897 and which encompasses a large section of the village, impacting about 100 residents. The old drain under the jurisdiction of Genesee County has been one possible cause of flooding of several residents? homes over the past few years. The flooding intensified, prompting village officials to engage the county drain officials to investigate the issues. As a result, last year petitions were signed and in a special meeting on April 9, 2013 at the village offices, a board of determination voted 3-0 to move forward with an upgrade to the Wheelock & Watkins Drain. By law the drain commission must move forward with the project in a timely manner. After a final project cost is determined the drain commission will then decide how payment for the funding is to be divided.
The February meeting at the drain commission office in Flint included representatives from the Village of Goodrich, council members Richard Saroli and Mark Baldwin, along with village resident Norm Bass. Drain Commissioner Jeff Wright, along with Jim Gerth and Sue Kubic, were also present. The intent of the meeting was to follow up an engineering report by Fleis and Vandenbrink that provided some preliminary engineering information on upgrades to the Wheelock & Watkins drain project. The cost of the upgrades, some exceeding $600,000, were questioned by village officials.
Kubic addressed alternatives that were not part of the original preliminary engineering study.
Kubic emphasized that neither our office nor our engineer has been provided any information in regards to proposed green infrastructure. We will need to proceed with the available information to stay on the schedule that was discussed at the meeting, she wrote.
Included in the changes to the plan were redirecting the water from the golf course and the low area back to the Mill Pond by removing the dam or permanently lowering the normal high water of the pond to allow the water to flow into it. Removal of the dam was proposed as the most desired ‘green? option by consultant, Tammy Hazlet; Provide detention on the golf course to reduce the upstream flow to reduce the size of pipe and reduce cost; Provide a relief sewer south of Eire and east of Clarence, across the park to reduce costs; looked at cost of utilizing existing 30 inch pipe under Hegel Road versus placing a new pipe.
‘At this time, neither our office nor our engineer has been provided any information in regards to proposed green infrastructure,? wrote Kubic. ‘We will need to proceed with the available information to stay on the schedule that was discussed at the meeting.?
Kubic suggested village officials review the report and respond in writing with any questions or comments.
‘If we have no response within 30 days we will assume that the Village of Goodrich Council concurs with the recommendations of the report and our office will proceed with the project,? she wrote.
The report included three alternatives to the project, ranging in costs from $500,000-$668,000.
Richard Saroli, village council member, said that due to the lawsuit there’s just not enough time to review the latest report from the drain commissioner. Furthermore, since the lawsuit was filed in August, counsel for the village has recommended discussion of the drain issue be halted.
‘Although any activities on the drain issue has stopped due to the lawsuit, we may consider starting the wheels turning again,? said Saroli. ‘We may start looking to continue with a solution. However the time table of 30 days is just not reasonable right now, we’ve been handicapped by not going forward.?