Residents complain about flooding
to Grosse Pointe Farms City Council
Some of the 288 Grosse Pointe Farms homeowners who experienced basement flooding during the record rainfall May 25 showed up at the Farms City Council meeting Monday (June 6) to spread the misery around.
Politely but firmly, they spoke of their disappointment in the city’s handling of the epic storm, which led to drainage backups. The results included piles of trash at curbside, as residents disposed of ruined furniture, drywall, electronics and other appliances.
Moran Road resident Dave Barthel said he had a foot of sewage water in his basement. Another resident, Rebecca Edwards, experienced the same problem and told council members her part of the city bore the brunt of the storm-related problems.
“I’m very disappointed in the way the inland district between Chalfonte and Mack was handled," she said. "Something should have been done."
Tom Biehl of the engineering firm Hubbell, Roth & Clark briefed the council about the three major issues that occurred on May 25 that slowed the drainage process immensely. The first was that the storm dropped 2.7 inches of rain in an hour, and 4.2 inches in an 18-hour period. The Farms hasn’t experienced a storm of that degree since 1946, Biehl said.
Second, the ground was already saturated from rainfall over the previous weeks, so the water immediately ran off into the combined sewage system. Finally, power surges at the height of the storm reduced a number of the pumps’ capacity. It was only for a few minutes, but that was enough to complicate the problem.
Some council members and Mayor James Farquhar (who said that he also had water in his basement May 25) asked if there is a way to make sure this won’t happen again, without breaking the bank. “If money is no object, there’s always a solution,” replied Biehl.
In other business, the Country Club of Detroit proposed a site plan for a new maintenance building and dormitory facility.
Residents and some council members responded with concerns the buildings would be an eyesore for those whose homes overlook the club.
Councilman Martin West spoke on the issue both as a member of the club and as the owner of a home that overlooks the construction site. People have "paid a premium on their property to look at the golf course," West said. "We don’t want to look at a maintenance shed."
Councilman Terry Davis, also a club member, also voiced concern about the visibility of the maintenance building: “I don’t want to see the architectural outline of this building. I want it to disappear."
Architect John Vitale told council members that trees would be planted around the building to hide it as much as possible.
After comments from the public were closed, a motion passed to approve the site plan for the maintenance shed, awaiting contingent approval of the council at its next meeting of the landscaping of the three buildings and the pump house, as well as the screening of the tennis area and the color palette of the building.
Another site plan was proposed, this one by the US Border Control, to place a 60-foot camera tower on the property of the Little Club. The camera would give coverage of Lake St. Clair all the way to the Detroit River.
A radar unit for the top of the tower is also in consideration, but the council urged the Border Control to inform all residents of the radar before including it. The site plan was passed with a contingency that the radar be taken out of the plan if there is strong opposition from residents.
