Flood Stories Wanted for Gerrard - Allison Project

(posted Jan 17)

The $396,000 preliminary design contract with American Structurepoint is a sign that the town is committed to fix the Gerrard-Allison flooding problems. Approximately 40 people attended the Speedway Storm Water Management Board public hearing on January 14 to voice their flooding problems. The public hearing is required as part of the grant application the town has to compete for community block grant coming from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs.

Dan Lake with Kieser Consultants said the OCRA will look at the health and safety issues, so he urged residents to bring in documentation, such as insurance claims, clean up time and all the losses created from flooding. He asked people to deliver their flood photos and other documentation to the town manager.

Lake said he use to work for the state agency that administered the grant, so he is aware of the evidence the town needs to put into the application. He said previous homeowners in the area could supply information if they were affected by flooding during their occupancy. The town is applying for a Community Block Grant program of $500,000 with $267,150 to assist low to moderate income persons. Speedway's population is 53.6 percent low to moderate income. The town is expected to spend $2.5 million on the project from other sources. The grant application has to show "project need." The application also includes a section as to why the town cannot pay for the project in its entirety. A second public hearing will be conducted before the March 13 deadline.

Lake said the state receives about $30 million a year to disperse to communities. He said it is a competitive environment with many communities requesting money for their projects.

Although the plan is not complete, the area of focus is the combined sewer area between 21st Street and 16th Street, east of Lynhurst Drive. The plan will be designed for a 10-year, one hour rain event. Robert Hendricksen of American Structurepoint said the rain event will require a larger capacity to handle the flow compared to a ten year, 12 hour event.

He discussed regrading the streets to help with storm water flow. Allison Avenue is a valley between 20th and 21st. He talked about minimizing the storm water at 22nd and 21st by up-sizing the pipes. Some initial discussions proposed moving storm water north of Crawfordsville Road into Dry Run Ditch, while storm water south of Crawfordsville could tie into the 72 inch line on Main Street via 16th.

Storm Water Board member Paul Maves said the plan could not protect homeowners from every heavy rain event, but it should protect them from sewage from backing into the basements by separating the storm and sewer lines. The plan is to convert a storm pipe into a sewer line and install new storm pipes.

Julie Eppen of 2042 Allison Avenue said damage from the flood of 2003 was exacerbated when the IPL cut the power for fear of a gas explosion when a basement caved in. The neighborhood was evacuated. Generators and pumps lost power to rid basements of water. She said she suffered "terribly" from her asthma, especially during the clean-up with all of the chemicals. "We look forward to anything that can be done to get this problem done so none us have to go through that horrible, horrible nightmare."

Pam Flaherty of 2031 Gerrard said she has been coming to the drainage meetings since 2003, along with four other residents on Gerrard, so many town officials are familiar with the street's flooding problems.

Christie Manion of 2102 Allison wanted to know why the 21st Street drainage improvement project did not work after the 2003 flood. She said her yard was dug up for improvements but it didn't resolve the problem. She inquired why this proposed project would be different.

Maves said that past project was not as extensive as the proposed plan. It cleaned out pipes and inlets. The proposed project will be separation.

Town manager Barbara Lawrence said the town is committed to fixing the project, but stopped short of saying what would happen if town did not receive the grant. "This is very important project and we are going to do everything we can do to fund it." She called it a "priority project."

The goal is to start construction by June.