Council discusses Sunrise Court flooding

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

After more than a decade of relief, more than 30 frustrated Sunset Court residents were again looking for answers to flooding problems from Van Wert City Council.

What has been called the wettest June since 1892, which dumped more than 20 inches of rain on the city, was blamed for flooding problems for the southern portion of Sunrise Court, as water from an adjacent field poured into a portion of the subdivision.

Several Sunrise Court residents who attended Monday’s City Council meeting talked about how the flooding has adversely affected them — problems that included the loss of a couple of vehicles to water damage and difficulty in getting to, and from, their homes.

Since houses in the area are built on concrete slabs, several residents also said their homes were threatened by flooding that, in some cases, came within inches of their front doors.

Mayor Don Farmer used a slide show in his discussion of what has been done in the past two decades to alleviate flooding in Sunrise Court, but also noted that the historical rainfalls last month were the main culprit in the area’s recent flooding problems.

“There is no community that can plan for that size of rainfall,” the mayor said to Sunrise Court residents.

That said, Mayor Farmer did note that the city would be taking some action to alleviate flooding problems in the area, including new and larger drain covers. The mayor talked about the installation of larger drainage pipes and catch basins in the area back in the 1990s to deal with flooding that occurred frequently 20 years ago, which have eliminated most of the flooding in the area.

New drain covers and larger drains will be installed in the area, Mayor Farmer noted, with new drain covers designed so they are harder to plug up.

Sunrise Court residents also suggested that a slight mound be created on the south side of the subdivision to keep the water from coming into the subdivision. A similar rise on the north side of Sunrise Court has done a good job of eliminating flooding in that area of the subdivision, local resident Dave Freeman said.

Mayor Farmer said the city would look at additional flood remedies in the area, but also noted that state law prohibits people from redirecting the flow of water irresponsibly. He also said that a civil engineer would need to be consulted to ensure that any remedies proposed for Sunrise Court would not create problems for another portion of the city.

The mayor did inject a light moment when he joked that Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming was not absent from the meeting because he knew Sunrise Court residents were coming to talk about flooding problems. Fleming is currently on vacation.

The mayor also discussed another city problem: the presence of grass clippings in Van Wert streets from people mowing. Mayor Farmer noted that the city’s new street sweeper collected substantial grass clippings while cleaning streets in a small portion of the city — clippings that cost the city more than $1,000 to get rid of.