Mineola council addresses Heritage Square flooding

Posted 12/31/69

Flooding issues for homes along the south side of Park Place in Heritage Square have been ongoing for years.

Monday the Mineola City Council agreed to take steps to alleviate some of the problems.

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Mineola council addresses Heritage Square flooding

Posted

Flooding issues for homes along the south side of Park Place in Heritage Square have been ongoing for years.

Monday the Mineola City Council agreed to take steps to alleviate some of the problems.

Jim and Lori bought their home at 1812 Park Place five years ago and have battled water ever since.

Lori Shipman outlined the steps she and her husband have made, spending more than $12,000 on a series of drains, trenches, catchment boxes and such to try to address the problems.

She described putting on her rubber boots and rain gear during recent heavy rains, using a rake and a step ladder to try to remove debris from a grate over their back fence. She finally gave up at 1 a.m.

She also showed a photo of sand bags placed near their back patio trying to prevent water from coming into the home.

City Manager Mercy Rushing outlined the history of problems, starting with the earliest construction in the 1990s, when the city had no subdivision ordinances to govern things like drainage.

She said the city initiated an engineering study with recommendations for the developer, but had no way to force the changes to be made.

Recently the city has sought engineering assistance again, and Rushing brought those suggestions to the city council.

She said some of the recommendations are more than the city can afford.

One idea will require the Shipmans to grant the city a drainage easement along the side of their property to help improve water flow.

The Shipmans said they would agree to that.

The major problem for the Shipmans and neighbors on either side is that water coming down Jan Street empties onto the back of their properties.

Lori Shipman said the house behind them facing Jan has flooded at least twice in recent years.

The end of the cul-de-sac on Jan does not have curb and gutter, and part of the project to address the drainage would be to add curb and gutter in order to direct water into a channel that would carry the water past the Shipman home and onto Park Place, where it would drain at street level.

“I feel we have done all we can do,” said Lori Shipman.

Rushing said she would bring the plan to the council at the next meeting, along with how to pay for the project, which would cost more than the city budgeted for drainage for the year.

She said the estimate is $46,000 plus completing the work on Jan St.

Councilman Greg Hollen, who viewed the site last week, said it appears a home probably should not have been built on the site.