March 24, 2016 Stormwater Subcommittee Meeting

ISSUE

The stormwater subcommittee met with the City on Wednesday, March 24 in Council Chambers with public present to continue discussions concerning the City’s request to use park property for stormwater detention.

DISCUSSION

Five residents attended the meeting and one spoke during public comment.  All five sites under consideration were discussed.

As regards York Commons, the City noted that once the design of the valve was complete, the park district would be receiving the 95% plans (those plans were subsequently received on March 30 and are being reviewed by the Park Board’s subcommittee and by Greg Wolterstorff of V3).  The City announced that they will hold an Open House on the project, as required by the intergovernmental agreement, on April 20 from 4-6 p.m.. and the Park District will participate.  In addition, the timeline for the project was discussed as it is apparent the work will not be able to be completed prior to Smalley Pool opening for the summer.  The City is working on a proposed schedule for the project; the Park District made it clear that safety will be the utmost concern when considering the schedule as thousands of people utilize the park and pool during the summer.

Golden Meadows was next on the agenda. However, as was noted at the Park Board’s March 23 meeting, the City Council approved the terms of the draft IGA on March 21 and the Park District received a copy of it the following day; as a result not much conversation took place.  The Park  Board’s subcommittee, staff and Andrew Paine of Tressler are now in the midst of reviewing the document. 

Lastly, after much discussion City officials requested that the Park District reconfirm the status of the other three parks under consideration (East End, Crestview and Wild Meadows Trace).  Whereas the Park District is not interested in considering the use of those sites for detention without first considering alternative stormwater improvements including underground storage, the City is not interested in considering other options for those sites if they involve increased costs in order to preserve open space.  The following statement was once again shared by the Park District, : “At this point in time, the Park Board is not interested in encumbering additional open space with detention basins to provide relief for approximately 11 remaining homes that would be impacted.  However…the District believes that Park and City staff should discuss alternative ideas for three sites, similar to those the City has already utilized.” 

The next subcommittee meeting will be held Thursday, March 28, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.. at City Hall.