MEETING NOTES FOR THE FLOOD UPDATE / UTILITY COMMITTEE MEETING

March 27, 2018, County-City Building 4th Floor
Present for the Utilities Meeting were Councilman Varner, Councilwoman White, Councilwoman Williams-Preston, Councilman Tim Scott

* Setting Rates - No increases are planned
* Director of Public Works is in discussions with the Detroit Army Corp of Engineers about funding possibilities

* 2018 Flood Crest was 12' 7"
* 2016 Flood Crest was 4'4"
* Notre Dame data is from 1931 - 2017 and shows the flood on Feb 21-22 of 2018 to be at a 2,500 year flood level
* SB has approximately 40 sq miles
* Indiana & Michigan areas affected included 15 counties, 3,742 river miles, 3rd largest watershed
* Most calls were from these areas: Keller Park, Northshore Triangle, Riverside and Emerson Blvd
* From 2015 - 2017 the Sewer Department has received 1,758 calls in these 3 years
* 150 year old system
* 100 year old pipes still being used in some areas
* 60 year interceptor flow of sewage to the river

* CSO (Combined Sewer Overflow) - Water pressure was so high the water flowed away from the river
* There is 15 years remaining in the CSO plan
* Governor Kernan Walkway/Wall sustained about $480K in damage
* Wastewater Treatment Plant sustained about $225K in damage
* Parks overall sustained about $2.5M
* East Bank Riverwalk sustained about $285K in damage
* East Bank Trail sustained about $1.5M (including the Dog Park area)
* 2400 Block of Riverside Drive sustained about $200K in damage
* Park equipment was a total loss at Pinhook Park
* Slope failures are still a concern and more damage may be discovered
* City has a $500K Deductible and there are 2 Different Insurance companies
* FEMA may be part of the process
* 2 types of evaluations - public and private
* Discussion that AEP owns the Elkhart dam. They may ask that the Army Corp of engineers take it over during floods to determine how open it should be and the amount of damage that can occur downstream
* Some people can get a reimbursement for their valves if they were damaged or failed. Contact their department for the rules/conditions

PROJECTS for 2018:
* Electric upgrades
* Demolition of Motor Control Centers
* Switches & Wiring
* New Switches & Wiring
* Install generators
* Rehab on 4 Belt Filter Presses to compress sludge - $200K #1 is done, even though it is compressing "#2" ;-)
* Raw Sewage Pump #2 is $250K
* Rehab manholes and sewer pipe linings $1.5M annually
* Drainage projects to help residents
* Ravina Park/Bowman Creek stabilization - Utilizing $100K donation from the Pokagon and River West TIF (Tax Incremental Financing)
* Improve drainage at Martin's Erskine Plaza on Ireland with $120K from the Southside TIF
* Improving Colfax from Main to Michigan Streets $1.5M
* Improvements to Charles Martin Youth Center and LWW for $1.1M out of the River West TIF
* St. Joseph Streetscape $350K
* Sheridan Ave - 2,500 feet of roadway & sewer installation from the River West TIF

NEW DEVELOPMENTS:
North areas with Eddy Street Commons continue to add to the sewage and water needs
Upcoming - removal of forests near the toll road to build 160 house development which will add to about 60K gallons of sewage per day
Removing forests and covering land with more houses and roads will mean less absorption of water

CITIZEN COMMENTS:
* Many in Keller Park are renters that ended up with 5' of sewage in their basements so they may just move away and not come back
* Need to study the amount of water coming off Holy Cross land and into the Northshore Triangle area
Eric Horvath responded it will be studied and they may be able to address this issue when building the Coal Line Trail 
* During the storms the City should have told the rest of the residents area wide to cut back on water use to reduce the amount of sewage they got coming into their basements
* During the storm and for a week after there was brown water coming out of the faucets and they think the City should have given "boil orders" and tested the water

SURVEY:
The City of South Bend’s Department of Public Works is conducting a sewer survey and is seeking information from residents. 
We’d like for homeowners who experienced flooding this past February to fill out the survey, which can be found at http://southbend2018sewerstudy.com/. 
The survey should be completed by Monday, April 30.

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