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5 . ain thon • 'Ila e Administrative Offices 3301 Silver Lake Road, St. Anthony, Minnesota 55418-1699 (612) 789-8881 FAX (612) 781-9323 REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE - CITY OF ST. ANTHONY On July 1, 1997 the City of St. Anthony was devastated by rainfall more than twice as intensely as anticipated for a 100-year event as predicted by the National Weather Service. This event flooded more than 67 homes, some of which are no longer habitable, seriously impacted the City's sanitary sewage collection system and subjected the City's residents and infrastructure to flood damages in excess of$1 million. The physical and emotional scars resulting from this event are proving very difficult to heal. An engineering analysis of the problems experienced within the City was commissioned as a follow-up to the July 1 event. This analysis grouped the flood problems generated by the storm event into 13 problem areas. The areas were analyzed to identify problems and generate recommendations on how to address them. These recommendations can be broken down into the following actions with associated costs to address all 13 problem areas: • Reconstruct City parks to accommodate storm water ($2,500,000) • Construct improvements to storm sewers ($2,200,000) • Flood proof homes ($500,000) • Purchase homes for land to hold storm water ponds ($800,000) The analysis also indicates St. Anthony is impacted by storm water runoff from development in other communities. These actions in other communities leave inadequate capacity for water to drain out of the City during heavy rainfall events, causing water to back up into St. Anthony. The City does not have legal authority to work beyond its municipal boundaries to increase capacity of storm drainage systems passing through other communities. Therefore, St. Anthony has no choice but to construct storm water storage areas within the community. The engineering report estimates the cost to construct improvements to address flooding in these 13 problem areas is approximately $6 million. These improvements will not only benefit St. Anthony, but also downstream communities. In an effort to address these problems, St. Anthony is forced with quadrupling its storm water utility fee to the highest rate in the Metro area. Even with this extensive local commitment, this will only raise enough money over the next 15 years to fund 1/4 ($1.5 million) of the necessary $6 million of improvements. This increase in the storm water utility fee will place a large burden on a community already devastated by damage caused by the July 1 storm. It is evident from this information that the City is in dire need of assistance in dealing with this matter. • Therefore, the City is requesting assistance to fund this $6 million project to make the necessary improvements to alleviate the flooding problems that the community faces. We respectfully request your assistance in helping us take care of our residents.