Storm Water Workshop (repost)

On September 19th, there was a Village workshop held to discuss the proposed storm water master plan concept which included a question and answer period for those residents in attendance. Since I’ve written on the subject several times since April, I thought to forward a brief overview and several of the photos that we have on file.

The presentation was from the President of Craig A. Smith & Assoc., Gene Schriner and his project manager, Al Caruso. In short, they explained the scope of the proposed plan and provided a hand out which included a flood survey form for residents to complete and return. (I believe that both of these have now been posted on our Village website. I would encourage all readers to take the time to complete and return this information to Village Hall).  His goal is to gather as much data as possible, both from the Village and from our residents to include any previous flood claims.

Part of his presentation addressed work they are doing for our neighboring community, El Portal. He explained that they divide the Village into “basins” or zones. One basins conceptual cost estimate was $1,098,622.50. I believe that he stated the total projected cost for El Portal was somewhere in the neighborhood of six million dollars.  My understanding is that we cannot assume that this would be the same amount for Biscayne Park, should we choose to move forward. It could be more or less -depending on the actual drainage issues and system designs.

To this point, I have included several before and after photos that we have on file. One of the main points he made, and one that I feel is very important to understand, was to explain what actual storm water flooding is. And that is simply standing water (on Village property) for a period of between 12-24 hours. Why I feel this is important is that some residents I have spoken with all seem to have different ideas as to the difference between puddling and storm water flooding.  The photos (below) should help to illustrate this point. The time elapsed between these photos was approx. 7 hours.  

(Click on any photo to enlarge)

115 St. / 6th Ave.

 

116 St. / 9th Ave.

  

112 St. / 7th Ave.
 

So, here we are. The cost of this master plan is $135,000ish. (I didn’t take notes- but this amount is close) Once again, this cost is only for the plan, not any actual work performed. Since we were successful in acquiring $150,000 from the State for the survey, it looks as if our Village is moving forward. I’m happy to take questions here, but you may be better served by contacting our Commissioners and/or Village Manager directly as I am not involved in the decision making process.  

 

Best,

Milton Hunter

BP Resident

P.S. I almost forgot my favorite picture: Our resident storm water gator on the lookout