City targets west-side flooding with another study

Port council votes to spend $20,900 on a scaled-down plan to solve problems that have plagued neighborhood

Yards and homes off Larabee Street on Port Washington's west side were devastated by flooding in August. Press file photo
By 
KRISTYN HALBIG ZIEHM
Ozaukee Press staff

The City of Port Washington is taking steps to provide flood relief for the areas affected by last August’s flood, with aldermen voting Tuesday to spend $20,900 to study potential ways to relieve flooding in the Larabee drainage basin on the city’s west side.

The study, which will be done by Stantec Consulting Services, will look at the impact that enlarging the Spring Street box culvert and the stormwater detention pond at Spinnaker West would have during so-called 100 and 150-year storms.

The study would also look at the impact these measures would have downstream, particularly on the Union Pacific railroad tracks and the city’s street department garage, which came close to flooding during a 500-year storm in August.

Ald. John Sigwart, a member of the Board of Public Works, which recommended the study, said the fund would be “money well spent,” especially because of the potential for damage to the street department facility.

“I know there’s a thought we’re studying this to death,” he said. “This is a big enough problem that I think this warrants it (the study).”

Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven said the changes to the Spinnaker West detention basin would provide increased storage capacity during a storm while the culvert would allow water in the drainage system to move through it more quickly.

A 2015 study done by Stantec looked at these improvements as well as other changes in the Larabee Street drainage basin but the city could not obtain needed easements from affected residents for the work.

That hasn’t changed, Vanden Noven said, noting two of the impacted homeowners won’t cooperate with the city while two others would.  

However, he said, the improvements being looked at in the new study would only require temporary easements, which should be easier to obtain.

The board originally considered asking Stantec to look at the impact of the proposed improvements only on a 100-year storm. However, after noting that the August storm was a 500-year event, members asked that also be considered.

The study is the second flood-related action taken by the city recently.

Earlier this year, the Common Council approved a $13,476 contract with Stantec to study Valley Creek floods near Veterans Park.

The company will model the flow of storm water to see how it flows over the culvert in Veterans Memorial Park — whether it travels to the lake, is diverted toward the city’s water filtration plant or to the Lighthouse Condominiums.

The study will help the city decide what it needs to do to alleviate flooding in the area, officials said.

“I’m optimistic it’s going to show the water is carried through the swale (in Veterans Park) to the lake, but we won’t know until the study is done,” Vanden Noven said.

If the study says only minor changes need to be made, he said, the second portion of the study — $24,738 to develop four options to increase the capacity of the system and alleviate flooding in the area — won’t be needed.

The city has said it would install a trash rack in the area to prevent the culvert from being plugged with debris, but that won’t occur until after the study is done, Vanden Noven said, noting the size of the rack will depend on whether other work is necessary. 

The study comes in response to flooding that occurred in August when more than nine inches of rain fell on Port. 

At the Lighthouse Condominiums, water filled the underground parking lot, submerging more than 20 vehicles and other property and knocking out the elevator. Water also surrounded  the city’s water filtration plant.

During that storm, the culvert wasn’t able to handle all the water coming down the creek because a large tree stump blocked it — a situation the trash rack would alleviate.

But there are also concerns that obstructions such as curbs mean the water doesn’t head to the lake but instead flows south on Lake Street toward the condominium building.

The study, which will build on a report by Stantec last year, is expected to be completed within five weeks of Stantec receiving survey information from the city — something that won’t happen until after the snow melts, officials said.

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Wisconsin’s largest paid circulation community weekly newspaper. Serving Port Washington, Saukville, Grafton, Fredonia, Belgium, as well as Ozaukee County government. Locally owned and printed in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

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