03-14-05 Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETINGFEBRUARY 28, 2005 Ms. Bely advised that she is very concerned about this confirming tax abatement for Place Builders, Crystals Builders for the Hidden Creek Subdivision. Ms. Bely stated that this Council did not have all the information given to it by the builders for the vote on the designating tax abatement. There are permits that need to be secured by the builders because of this wetland area and they have not done so thus far. The land has a large area of wetlands and even more land that is underwater during heavy. She urged the Council to be open to this new information. All the information so far given to the City agencies is from companies that have been paid for by the builders, Lang Feeney & Assoc. for the survey work and New and Associates for the Wet Land Delineation study. Ms. Bely stated that she spoke with Gary Gilot from the City Engineer’s Office, and he stated that the Area Plan Commission approves subdivisions first and then this comes to his department. He stated that the approval for the wetland portion comes from IDEM and the Core of Army Engineers. All the City staff that I have spoken with from the Area Plan Commission to the Engineers have stated they had believed this approval was obtained, however it was not. Steve Sprecher came out today with an associate from the Core to inspect this 30 acres and states the builders plans will need to be modified and there had been no prior approval as required. Neither has IDEM been contacted, except by those of us in the neighborhood. Liz Elverson from IDEM is head of clean water development, section 401 of the clean water act and states that if there is building in a wet land area those homeowners affected should receive information on how their properties would be affected. We in the Jewel Woods Dixie Garden are have not received this information and yet if the wooded area is built up it will most likely cause decreased water flow from our area. Right now this woods is the primary water shed area for this section of Centre Township, in which the Philips ditch winds through and then meanders throughout this woods and goes along the By Pass and then out along the muck farms. We need an impact study done prior to any further approvals given for this project. A member of the drainage board stated that if this project has met the City requirements it doesn’t matter if it causes basements to be flooded. But this project hasn’t met the State and Federal requirements. Does this put the City in a liable situation? Ms. Bely cautioned the council and urged them to be mindful of what a project of this size will do to the City’s wastewater treatment plant and its ability to handle storm water from our area, as water will continue to flow into this area and into the city sewage system, apparently, storm sewers were not installed. There will be an enormous amount of water because Centre Township is known for drainage problems and there is often standing water throughout these woods in the early spring, which is visible from the By-Pass. How will the taxpayers in South Bend feel when they hear that the treatment plant continues to pollute the St. Joe River with contaminated storm water and that water from the Kankakee rive basin is diverted into the St. Joe via the treatment plant. If South Bend continues to annex Centre Township then in reality a new Treatment Plant Should be built in the Kankakee River basin so out water continues to the Mississippi. To pump all our water uphill to the St. Joe will be fairly expensive. Is this the true problem that exists in Crest Manor, Kensington Farms, and Copperfield subdivisions in Centre Township? They are also south of the North/South Continental Divide. Gary Gilot, Public Works Director, 1300 County-City Building, South Bend, Indiana, explained the hydrology of the area. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Hydrology states that there are wetlands on the subject parcel. The parcel is about 30 acres, Jackson Road extended to the west to the railroad tracks, and half way up to the U.S. 20 By-Pass. The parcel does not include a substantial amount of land that is retained by American Electric Power associated with their substation. The shape of the wetland in the northwest corner, that wetland area is preserved and there are easements for storm water retention where the run off from the streets in this area will actually add water to the wetland area. There is a cross easement between this 30 acre parcel and AEP to the North, since both have water that sheds to this wetland area. To correct the information that has been heard earlier there is no proposal to build combined sewers in this area, the City has not built any new combined sewers in over 30 years. So the storm water in this area will stay and be retained on the site will either percolate or evaporate or make its way to the legal drain, but it will not go to a combined sewer. Councilmember Varner asked Mr. Feeney and Mr. Gilot if he was comfortable with the permits that are required for working on wetlands. 18