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South Bend Redevelopment Commission <br />Regular Meeting — October 11, 2011 <br />don't want to do things to change the <br />pathway of low level groundwater <br />contamination and maybe steer it toward the <br />river. <br />Mr. Gilot thinks the approach of harvesting <br />rainwater into a storm water system of <br />channels, using some plants that are water <br />loving, takes advantage of our unique <br />climate. In South Bend we get 35 inches of <br />rain each year and 35 inches of evaporation. <br />The trouble is that it doesn't come along <br />uniformly. We can have several inches of <br />rain to store and then have drought periods <br />where it would be really expensive to meet <br />all the needs for potable water on a 90 -acre <br />site. We think with appropriate design <br />sensitivities, this ecosystem design doesn't <br />have to cost a premium. This is something <br />that can be done at a cost comparable to the <br />conventional approach. Staff believes this is <br />good, forward thinking planning. <br />Mr. Gilot mentioned some other public <br />works projects where South Bend has already <br />been a leader, along with Notre Dame, or <br />working with Purdue, where we have done <br />some things that have not been done <br />anywhere else in the world, such as CSO net. <br />We invested $6 million in that technology to <br />fully implement it, to make all the smart <br />valves work within the city sewer system. <br />By doing that, we avoided $120 million of <br />conventional civil engineering solutions for <br />storage of excess storm water and a <br />combined sewer systems. <br />Mr. Varner wondered if the city will be <br />creating a new utility for Ignition Park to <br />provide heat and water to tenants and <br />whether we would then expect to get a <br />premium price for the lots. Our first site sale <br />12 <br />