Politics & Government
Flood Issue Update: City Engineer to Unveil Possible Solutions in June
City currently working with North Ridgeville officials and private consultants
Next month, Avon City Council will hear the recommendations of city engineer Robert Knopf on what can be done from entering into Avon residences.
This initiative arose in response to the heavy rains that mixed with melting snow and overwhelmed a portion of Avon’s drainage system, referred to as the French Creek interceptor.
To help expedite his determinations, Knopf has been working with the City of North Ridgeville, which shares use of the interceptor, and Hatch Mott MacDonald, a downtown engineering firm that’s conducting a Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) study on the flooding.
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“We’re hoping to see preliminary reports by Hatch Mott, hopefully, by the end of May,” Knopf said. “By June, I’ll deliver my potential recommendations to the council and we’ll move from there.”
As of now, it’s been assessed that there are two different flooding issues currently affecting the city. The first is the storm water issue in the southeast quadrant of the city, and the second deals with sanitary overflow problems in the northwest quadrant.
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The sanitary issue is mainly caused by a surcharge or clogging of the interceptor which, in turn, inhibits the local system from draining.
When that occurs, residents experience the kind of flooding problems that were seen in late February.
An in-flow and infiltration (INI) study needs to be performed to determine how to solve the sanitary problem, but it will cost anywhere from $500,000 to $1,000,000 and will take months to conduct, Knopf said.
However, to lessen the burden on Avon, Knopf is optimistic about sharing some of those costs with North Ridgeville in the event that an INI study needs to be done.
Mike Vuicich, an Avon resident whose North Doovys home was damaged by raw sewage in the February flooding, said repairs are coming along fairly well and that he hasn’t experienced any further problems.
Vuicich said it’s his hope that Avon invests more into solving the flooding issue before it arises again.