Abby devises new plan for Linden St. flooding
It may not be the perfect solution, but Abbotsford officials believe they have a cost-effective way of moving thousands of gallons of stormwater away from businesses and apartments on a stretch of West Linden Street prone to flooding.
At the city council’s committee of the whole meeting on Feb. 17, DPW Craig Stuttgen told elected officials about a proposal to install a new 30-inch storm sewer line on Linden between Industrial Park Road and the nearby railroad tracks.
According to a cost estimate from engineers at Cedar Corporation, the project would cost about $92,180, which would include installation of 600 feet of storm sewer line and street reconstruction.
Stuttgen had previously recommended installing a concrete box culvert on the southwest corner of Linden and Industrial Park Road to carry water toward the ditch near the tracks. Last October, the council approved a $55,300 contract with MSA Professional Services to design the project, and the city budgeted $200,000 for it to be done this year.
However, while planning the project, city officials learned that Canadian National would require the replacement of three culverts running underneath the railroad tracks if a box culvert were installed. Stuttgen told the council this would cost the city an extra $250,000.
The city has been trying to address the flooding issues for several years now.
In the fall of 2018, after a tenant in a Linden Street apartment wrote a letter to the city about flooding in her parking lot, the council hired MSA to do a stormwater study for $6,500.
One of the ideas that came out of that plan involved the purchasing land and building a retaining pond for a cost of $2.5 million, Stuttgen noted.
“That’s nowhere near in the budget,” Stuttgen said Still, Stuttgen told the council that something needs to be done to prevent Kulas Body Shop, Fastenal and two apartment complexes in that area from being flooded again in the future.
“Right now, if we do nothing, we would be negligent, if the insurance company came in,” he said. “We’ve had them (culverts) plug twice and we haven’t made any improvements yet.”
A new 30-inch storm sewer pipe would be able to move 14,000 gallons per minute away from the low spot on Linden, Stuttgen said.
“This is the cheapest way to move 14,000 gallons of water per minute out of there,” he said.
Brian Chapman of Cedar Corporation said putting in a new 30-inch line could be seen as the “first phase” of a longterm solution.
“You are pushing a potential problem downstream, and that’s not the ideal situation,” he said. Stuttgen said standing water could still accumulate during heavy rainfall, so the fix is not perfect.
“We don’t have the money for perfect,” he said.
Closed session call-ins OK?
A brief discussion was held about whether or not council members who call in to meetings should be allowed to listen and participate in closed session discussions. Ald. Dale Rachu raised concerns with the practice after Ald. Dennis Kramer was allowed to participate remotely in a Feb. 1 performance evaluation of the city administrator.
“We have no way of knowing who’s with that person on the other end of the line,” Rachu said. “I think we’re really setting ourselves for some trouble if we allow it.”
Mayor Voss proposed the idea of having council members sign a pledge saying they won’t let others listen in on closed session discussions, but Rachu didn’t think that was adequate.
“If you want to be at the closed session, you need to get in this room,” he said. “Otherwise, to me, it doesn’t pay to have a closed session. Just do everything in open.”
Kramer said he felt singled out by Rachu’s concerns, since he often calls in to meetings.
“It’s very frustrating and demeaning to me that all of the sudden this issue has come up when it never did before, only because you don’t want me to be involved in closed sessions if I’m not there,” he said.
Rachu said the issue was only coming up now because he was raising it — not because of Kramer.
“It’s anybody that’s on the phone,” he said. “I’m not pointing the finger at you at all.”
The council agreed to continue the discussion at its March 1 meeting, with the possibility of voting on a new policy.
Other business
_ Mayor Voss said she wants council members to be able to review a newly revised employment contract for Grady, which she vetoed earlier this month because the terms were not updated before the council voted to renew it on Feb. 1.
Voss said the contract includes over $300,000 in wages and benefits, so she feels the council should make sure all of the terms are clear before it is renewed for another three years. She pointed out that the number of sick days, personal days and vacation time were all different due to changes in the employment handbook made last year.
The city’s attorney has now reviewed the contract to make sure it is ready to voted on again at the council’s March 1 meeting, Voss said.
In response to Ald. Mason Rachu saying that he found “out through the grapevine” about the veto, Mayor Voss said she let Grady know about it, and thought he would relay the message to council members.
“When I talked to Dan Grady and gave him the veto, he told me he would let every council member know,” the mayor said in an email. “So I didn’t feel the need to contact everyone since he said he was going to do so.”
_ Grady said 66 votes were cast in the Feb. 16 primary for state superintendent.
_ Grady called the council’s attention to several problems at a rental house located at 205 S. Fourth St., owned by Leonard Riehle. Grady said the house has pillows stuffed in the window spaces, missing floorboards and steps, and a giant hole in the foundation. He also said the police have been notified about the tenants having at least six dogs and six cats, which far exceeds the city’s limits for pets in a single-family residence.
Issues with the house will be discussed by a city task force appointed last year to deal with problem properties in the city.
_ The committee recommended approval of a $182,801 pay request from Steen Construction for resurfacing Hemlock Street in 2020. The project will be finished later this year after some grading and site restoration is done.
_ The committee recommended approval of a proposal from Hydro-Klean to re-pour four concrete manholes along Fourth Avenue for a total cost of $15,420. This work will be done in conjunction with a road project this summer.
_ The committee briefly discussed a compliance assurance plan for the city’s recycling program, as proposed by the Wisconsin DNR, along with updates to the city’s recycling ordinances also recommended by the DNR. The council will vote on the compliance plan and the ordinance changes on March 1.
_ The committee reviewed and approved a total of about $1.7 million in monthly bills.
