Council_Minutes_1975_06_09 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

-2- June 9, 1975 Mr. John Bluhm, 7832 Bona Road, asked what Council was going to do with the swamp south of Hillview. Mayor Johnson said he took a drive over there to look at the ditch and Greenfield Park. There is water in the park and in the ditch. He said he could see that presumably Mr. Bluhm is not the only one with water in the basement. Administrator Achen stated that he and the engineer from Rice Creek Water- shed and the City engineer were out to look at the property and felt there was no temporary solution to the problem. Starting at Bona Road the ditch is filled in up to Greenfield Park, so it would be necessary to clean the ditch from Bona to Hillview to Quincy. Councilman Hodges said he also investigated the situation and wondered if it would be feasible to get the ditch cleaned to increase the flow of water. Engineer Bearden said the water is backing up because the ditch is partly filled in from Bona Road. He checked Mr. Bluhm's basement elevation against the elevation of the water in the ditch, and it is 1.8 feet above the water in the ditch. Engineer Bearden stated the water table is high and many people are having water problems this year. Gordon Pittman, 5619 St. Michael Street, stated all the sand from the park should be cleaned out. He does not think the culvert is sufficient. Engineer Bearden said there was a heavy rain that jumped the culvert on the north side of Hillview and washed the sand into the culvert. That sand was removed by the City crew, and sometime last week the water table looked about normal. Engineer Bearden said if the ditch was cleaned out, someone would have to pay for it. ;Mayor Johnson said we know there is a ditch there that has been filled in and it has to be dredged. One other problem is the fact that it is a judicial ditch that runs across county lines making it more difficult to determine who is responsible. It is in the Rice Creek Watershed District. They said if we want to go ahead and clean it we would probably have no problem, but their recommendation is that the whole ditch be cleaned. Engineer Bearden estimated cost at $1,500 just to go from Hillview north beyond the entrance to Greenfield Park. Mr. Bluhm asked who is responsible for the ditch. Attorney Meyers said Anoka County court is involved in the ditch, it might take a court order from Anoka which would probably involve an assessment to people benefitted by any improvement to the ditch.