Author photo

By Lee Hughes
Staff reporter 

County studying West Terrace drainage issues

 

Last updated 12/5/2019 at 10:50am

Lee Hughes

Osborn Consulting's Project Manager Amiee Navickis-Brasch listens as attendees at a public open house at Snowden Elementary School on Wednesday, Nov. 20 offer input into drainage issues in the West Terrance Heights neighborhood that will supplement other information.

WEST TERRACE - Engineers were on-hand at an open house at Snowden Elementary School on Wednesday, Nov. 20, to receive input and answer questions from residents about their experience with storm drainage issue for a county study.

Called the West Terrace Stormwater Study, the goal is to develop a plan to improve drainage on the West Plains, even as development in the area begins to accelerate, and is intended to complement a similar effort by the West Plains Public Development Authority.

"We're piggybacking that study to make sure we capture everything south OF I-90 at the same time," Assistant County Engineer Matt Zarecor said.

The study area extends south of Interstate 90's Medical Lake interchange to West Melville Road, and between South Thomas Mallen Road to the east, and west to just west of Hayford Road, and includes the Fairways Golf Course and surrounding residential and commercial areas.


In the fact-finding stage, engineers from Spokane County and its contractor, Osborn Consulting, Inc., were asking residents to share their drainage stories as part of an effort to understand where drainage challenges might exist in the area.

The input is part of a broader effort that involves researching existing records, geologic and soil studies, recorded complaints and other historical data that will then be used by Osborn to provide the county with comprehensive drainage solutions.

"The purpose of the meeting is to develop an understanding of drainage issues in the area," Osborn's Project Manager Amiee Navickis-Brasch said.

The effort will help develop a more complete picture of drainage in the area.


"Has it changed over time? Is this new?" Navickis-Brasch said. "We're trying to understand these things and pull those pieces together."

The data collected will then be used to identify areas where drainage is an issue, define benchmarks and ultimately develop and prioritize stormwater mitigation alternatives and solutions, she said.

While some attendees were on-board with the big picture focus of the meeting, others were more detail-oriented, complaining - sometimes vocally and emotionally - about specific drainage problems and the ongoing development in the West Terrace area.

Homeowner Gerd Scheller questioned Zarecor about a development that was going to discharge its stormwater into the existing pond owned by his homeowner's association.

Terry Horne, a vocal member of one neighborhood where residents' basements and crawlspaces frequently flood due to the areas high water table, used the meeting to continue to challenge the county regarding its mitigation efforts.

And sitting quietly in one corner watching the meeting unfold was Iola Simmons. A senior citizen with "significant health issues," she relies on Paratransit services for transportation to doctors' appointments.

Simmons's concerns included snow removal and ice that often restricts her from using Paratransit services, and over-development that could cause even more problems and perhaps impact her homes value.

"Where's the water going to go?" she asked.

Osborn and county engineers continue to accept comments and other information from residents, such as photos of drainage problems. For more information and to submit a comment to the project website at http://www.spokanecounty.org/4514/West-Terrace-Stormwater_Study.

Lee Hughes can be reached at lee@cheneyfreepress.com.

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 

Powered by ROAR Online Publication Software from Lions Light Corporation
© Copyright 2024

Rendered 03/21/2024 05:29