Tuesday, May 04, 1999
Sycamore project could plug wet-basement woes
BY ALLEN HOWARD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
SYCAMORE TOWNSHIP — It happens every March, April and sometimes May.
The rains come. Sewer lines clog, and water floods into basements along Glenellyn Drive in Kenwood.
Laurie Tompkins, who lives in the 7100 block, is fed up with it. And so is Ray Eckes, who lives in the next block.
“We have been lucky this year,” she said. But, “we still have May to go through.”
She said they get as much as 7 inches of water in their basement, four or five times a year when it rains.
“The sewer lines just seem to fill up too much,” Ms. Tompkins said. “When they fill up, the water pours down the streets and into basements. We had to throw away a lot of furniture last year because it got too wet.”
Mr. Eckes' house is on a slight incline because he is farther from the intersection of Montgomery Road and Glenellyn Drive, the lowest point of the street. When it floods, the water misses his basement, but it rises right up to his driveway, he said.
“I often get closed in by water and find it difficult even getting out of the subdivision,” Mr. Eckes said.
He said he has gone through the same problem for nine years. He said he has written letters to township trustees and to the state, but nothing seems to get done.
“I don't get hit as bad as some of the other houses. After a flood, I can look down the street and see rugs and furniture on the sidewalks to dry out,” he said.
Township officials have plans this year to repair the sewer lines.
Lori Thompson, township administrator, said Sycamore has received a $180,600 grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission's State Capital Improvement Program (SCIP), to repair sewer lines. “We will put in $176,375 for the project,” Mrs. Thompson said.
She said a town meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. May 18 at St. Vincent Ferrer Church, 7754 Montgomery Road, Kenwood, to explain the grant and talk to residents about plans to correct the drainage problem.
“I guess I will attend that meeting,” Mr. Eckes said. “I have attended so many of them and nothing ever happens. The big problem out here is bad building plans. I think people just throw up stuff without getting proper inspection for the sewer lines. We have about 40 surrounding acres that are draining stuff into our sewer lines. The lines are too small to handle all the storm water runoff.”
Mrs. Thompson said the township was rejected for state fundinglast year.
State funds will be released in July. Mrs. Thompson said the township hopes to start the work in late summer.
“The sewer lines in place now are essentially too small,” she said. “We will install a parallel system with more catch basins and more intake lines to keep the water from going into the streets. The old system will remain. We think with both lines working, they will be adequate.”
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