A Plymouth resident is urging the city to move ahead with plans to resolve some of the flooding issues in the Candy Lane area.
Earlier this year, Commonwealth Engineers conducted a watershed study of the city’s east side. They proposed a plan to install a 36-inch storm sewer from the pond located between Candy Lane and Warana Drive, under either Pennsylvania Avenue or Ferndale Street, and connecting to an existing 36-inch sewer at Ferndale Street.
A few homes stand to benefit from the $500,000 project, but a property owned by Kem McFarling would see the biggest impact. During Monday’s Plymouth Board of Works meeting, McFarling asked Mayor Mark Senter when work may be expected to begin, now that a plan’s in place. “What kind of time line were you talking about?” McFarling asked. “Ten years? Five years? One year? To me, it’s critical. It’s not only a pollution problem and a flooding problem. It’s a financial problem for me, as well.”
City officials said they hope to be able to find the money within the next few years, if not sooner. “We’ve discussed it with the clerk-treasurer and the mayor during budget discussions here probably a month ago, and at this point I think it’s still being searched out to see if that’s a project we want to move forward with and if the funds are available to even move forward with it,” said Utility Superintendent Donnie Davidson.
Davidson has previously expressed concern that the cost of the project is approaching the value of the houses in the area. However, he told McFarling that the city continues its effort to find funding solutions. “You just don’t pick a half a million dollars out of the air,” Davidson said.
“I understand that,” McFarling responded, “but the problem’s been there for 16 years that I know of. It’s been flooding since then and never been addressed.” McFarling also questioned why the change to a 36-inch sewer is required to solve the problem. Davidson pointed to the better technology that’s now available for modeling storm events.
In other business, the Board of Works voted to award a quote to West Side Tractor Sales, for the purchase of a John Deere loader for the Street Department. Of the three bids the city received, West Side Tractor’s $143,000 bid was the middle one. However, Street Superintendent Jim Marquardt said the company’s bid was the only one that met the city’s requirements for tipping load weights.
