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REGULAR MEETINGNOVEMBER 27, 2006
<br />Ms. Rita Kopala, 66559 Ivy Road, Lakeville, Indiana, advised that she attends quite a few
<br />meetings especially anything that has to do with the ditches and drains. Mr. Leszczynski
<br />mentioned the Bowman Ditch this afternoon, which brings up a couple of big
<br />subdivisions that are located to the west of U.S. 31 and Kern Road. Ms. Kopala
<br />reiterated Linderman, Linderman. She travels Miami Road everyday since 1968, that is
<br />the Phillips ditch and it has caused all kinds of problems, you don’t have two-hundred
<br />and seventy some people signing a petition and Mr. McNamara admitting at the Area
<br />Plan Commission meeting that that has been screwed up for many, many years over
<br />there. They don’t have to worry that much about those towers over Ironwood, most of
<br />their problems comes from the Phillips Ditch and across Kern Road and the Phillips
<br />Ditch can’t hold anything and Linderman with what they did with that lake, that is just a
<br />big, big problem over there. She has seen people come one meeting after another not like
<br />this last one, this is a disaster in her book. When people spend $150,000 to $200,000 for
<br />a house and in a very short time there are sobbing the blues because they are flooded
<br />from everywhere, and they you get a fight between the City and the County of whose
<br />fault it is, and who did what, Mr. McNamara knows where a lot those problems came
<br />from. If they don’t fix all those problems out there now, hopefully they will get sued, so
<br />somebody is finally going to take responsibility for causing all these miseries. The
<br />people that call in with flooding every year should be counted and keep a record where
<br />all these problems are coming from. The road problem can be fixed, the ditching out
<br />there is another problem.
<br />There was no one else present wishing to speak in opposition to this bill.
<br />Rebuttal,
<br />Mr. Leszczynski stated that in the Area Plan Commission minutes that there was a
<br />statement by Mr. Weber indicating that the petitions were against the commercial zoning,
<br />now they have become against the drainage. Mr. Leszczynski noted that there are only
<br />three people in attendance tonight, there were a lot more at the Area Plan Commission
<br />Meeting, but once the commercial zoning was eliminated from the project, this is what
<br />the concerns are here. In regard to the traffic issues, they have done preliminary analysis
<br />there is adequate site distance, going 55 miles per hour, the stopping distance is over
<br />twice what is required by law. In current standards it states that the distance between
<br />intersections is well over double what is required. In regard to the drainage issue, yes
<br />there has been a drainage issue for the past sixty years. It was recognized in the 1920’s
<br />when they put the drain tile in, and it is still there to this issue. Mr. Leszczynski stated
<br />that the petitioners in the original development have reduced the amount of water
<br />overflow by putting the basin in. There are three pipes there, they are sized to allow
<br />water coming from the east pre-development and supposed to go through unimpeded
<br />through the property and continue on down the creek. Those three pipes are sized that
<br />are mentioned to allow that water through. Any new water, comes in, backs up behind
<br />those pipes, there will always be water coming through, but the water backs up and the
<br />water was backing up in the basin and drains during slow time, when the water is not
<br />there. The 54” pipe that is the largest diameter and that actually drains Miami Road and
<br />zigzags into the property and takes advantage of the basin to help drain that particular
<br />property. The developer proposed to raise the elevation on the pond and try to store more
<br />water during the storm water season. They will have to do a storm water analysis and
<br />find out how much that is and see how high they have to raise that pond. But the
<br />developers themselves are committed. The flooding issues were in June and July of this
<br />year, when the City of South Bend experienced a lot of rain and there were a lot of
<br />flooding issues, since then there haven’t been any flooding issues. Last week, there was
<br />three or four days that we experienced rain, there wasn’t any water comes out of the
<br />basin, it took it all, held it all. Mr. Leszczynski stated that he went by everyday, he also
<br />lives out in that area, and he is one of the neighbors. There wasn’t any flooding or issue
<br />like that. The issue of the size of the lots, it is an issue of urban development. It is the
<br />City of South Bend urban standards versus urban sprawl in the County. That’s all that is
<br />difference in the size of the lots. Those are as proved and set aside in the Ordinance.
<br />They are consistent with surrounding Southfield Village, with the Condos. As Mr.
<br />Troyer indicated, people that live in the single-family homes as they get older move into
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