2/25/2009 1:22:00 PM Report takes Bergamont stormwater to task But village officials stress
Some of the property owners who were affected by the August 2007 flood attend an Oregon Village Board meeting on Feb. 16. Some have argued that the Legend at Bergamont’s stormwater runoff had a negative affect on their Florida Avenue properties. They are, front row from left: Kent Nimocks, Amy Nimocks, Linda McAllister and Bob McAllister. Back row, from left: Denise Schommer (hidden), David Schommer and Monte Johnson.
A draft report reviewing the Legend at Bergamont's stormwater management is raising concerns that the 523-acre development may not be in compliance with the management plan approved by Dane County. But Oregon village officials are stressing that the report is only a draft, and that opinions regarding compliance should be put on hold until more facts are known.
The draft report was prepared by Kamran Mesbah, director of environmental resources planning for the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission (CARPC) and Jeremy Balousek, from the Dane County Land and Water Resources Department.
Their review of the Bergamont's handling of stormwater runoff was prompted by complaints of repeated flooding in a backyard at 347 Riviera Street, and soil erosion and prolonged periods of standing water on rural properties in the town of Oregon, west of the development.
The report's authors met with village officials, representatives of the Legend at Bergamont and concerned property owners on Jan. 23 at an Oregon Planning Commission meeting to discuss the report. At that time, the parties agreed that more information should be gathered before talking further about the problems and potential solutions. A meeting has been scheduled for March 23 to continue discussing the report. By then, officials hope to have as-built plans in hand documenting construction of the golf course and other parts of the development.
The report notes several areas of concern, including a lack of infiltration on the 193-acre golf course, a swale that runs through the back of lots along Riviera Street, and runoff from a section of undeveloped Bergamont land that ends up in the swale, and eventually in the Oregon branch of Badfish Creek.
The report also noted problems with a pond on the golf course that drains onto land owned by Phil Peterson, Roger Parsons and others west of Bergamont.
Peterson has complained that although he was told the development would not cause water problems on his property, he is sometimes unable to use an airplane runway on his farm due to runoff and standing water from the development.
Officials from Fiduciary Real Estate Development, owners of the Legend at Bergamont, disagree with the report's findings. They contend that the development complies with all requirements of the stormwater management plan. They also say they're willing to work with the village to improve the situation.
Flooding at 347 Riviera Street
Joshua Sebranek and Mike Brant have been living at 347 Riviera St., on the western edge of the Bergamont subdivision, since December 2006, when they bought the property for $470,000. In April 2007, following a spring thaw, they discovered several inches of water in the basement of their new home, along with a backyard under a few feet of water.
The original home builder returned to increase the height of basement walls and raise the elevation of basement windows, a fix that has kept water out of the house. But flooding of the backyard is an ongoing problem.
"We still get standing water in our backyard when it rains," Brant said last week. "Even with a two-inch rain, the water doesn't stay in the designed swale."
Brant and Sebranek brought their concern about backyard flooding to the attention of village officials and also to Balousek and Mesbah. The only concrete result of the homeowners' complaints has been the county's draft stormwater report, although village officials have held several meetings with stake holders. That process escalated after flooding on Aug. 18-19, 2007, inundated several properties in the village.
The county's report suggests that a swale, which drains more than 100 acres of Peterson's farmland into a 30-foot easement that crosses the back lot at 347 Riviera St., was poorly designed and is not sufficient for the purpose. To make matters worse, runoff from a "center section" of the Bergamont development that is uphill and south of Riviera Street drains onto the Peterson property and also into the men's backyard.
The report indicates that placing the swale within a small residential backyard was not a good idea, and suggests that diverting runoff from the center section to the west would ease the flooding. The report recommends building a permanent berm in the center section to accomplish that. Bergamont's development plan calls for runoff from the center section to eventually be diverted to the town of Oregon, but not until that section is completely built out. And it's the last section of the Bergamont planned to be developed into residential property.
The ultimate solution for Riviera Street, both county and village officials agree, would be to build a new swale to the west of the existing one. In order for that to happen, the village will need to buy or obtain an easement to some of Peterson's property. Peterson has rejected the suggestion of an easement but expressed his willingness to sell, contingent on the village annexing some of his land for future development.
In a letter to village officials dated July 11, 2008, he proposed a three-phase annexation. In the first phase, the village would annex 110 acres. When the 110 acres of residential lots are 60 percent sold, another 100 acres would be prepared for development, "and the same provisions for the final 100 acres."
Village officials have expressed an interest in the offer.
"I can't predict annexation and how that's going to work out," Village President Steve Staton said Sunday. "But if we could annex the Peterson property, then we'd be able to work on that swale and pond. That's one of the reasons we'd like to get it right now, to work on another detention pond out there. It would make a significant impact on what (water) goes in the village and the rate at which it goes through."
Peterson has been out of town and therefore unable to comment for this story, but officials have been saying for more than a year that his property is key to finding a solution to at least one aspect of the village's flooding problem.
It's also what Brant and Sebranek have been saying all along. "We want the swale to be relocated further west," Brant said. "That's our ultimate solution, and that's what we've been saying from day one. I think the village sees that, and it comes down to working with Mr. Peterson and seeing if he's willing to work with them.
"It's something that's really out of our hands," Brant added. "It's up to the village and the development and Mr. Peterson to find some common ground."
Golf course infiltration
The solution to the flooded swale appears to be relatively straight forward, but there's a significant complication. In his letter, Peterson writes: "This is contingent on a satisfactory resolve of the surface water that is being discharged onto my farm from the Bergamont Golf Course."
In the stormwater management review, Mesbah and Balousek cite several problems with runoff from the golf course: "It appears there are no active infiltration areas in the golf course."
They note that inlets have been installed and are connected to drain tiles and convey runoff directly to a pond on the golf course, "resulting in much shorter travel paths for the overland flow of runoff. "Furthermore, the drain tiles capture the infiltration water below the root zone for at least some portion of the golf course. This would circumvent the normal reduction of volume that is achieved through infiltration. Both of these elements differ substantially from what is assumed in the stormwater model used in the plan."
They stress the need to "maximize infiltration and minimize runoff rates" in order to control the amount of water that flows to Peterson's runway. They also note that in the approved stormwater plan, the Dane County Regional Planning Commission highlighted the need for "maximizing infiltration and the importance of using the golf course and other open areas for as much infiltration as possible."While the county officials strongly suggest that the Bergamont development does not conform to the stormwater management plan requirements, representatives of Fiduciary Real Estate Development disagree. At the Jan. 23 meeting, they insisted that the development complies with all requirements of the management plan.
Officials from Fiduciary were not available in the past couple of weeks to talk with a reporter about these issues, but after repeated phone calls seeking comment, Vice President Craig Raddatz did leave the following message on an answering machine: "We attended the meeting on Jan. 23... and were pleased that section five of the report says the approved storm management plan used the approach of using the discharge of the pond to below pre-settlement levels. Also, that night after the course operators explained how they controlled the level of the stormwater ponds, everybody gave them accolades for how they were doing.
"We'll continue to work with the village of Oregon on stormwater matters as we have in the past."
Peterson is not the only town of Oregon property owner to criticize the Bergamont's handling of stormwater runoff. Neighbors Roger Parsons, Jim Weber and Greg Epp - all longtime residents of the area - have spoken at public meetings about water problems that they attribute to the development.
Weber, who lived for many years on Jefferson Street before moving to South Fish Hatchery Road, said at a meeting last April that a small lake on his property is receiving stormwater runoff from the west side of the Bergamont. He said runoff that is diverted to the golf course detention pond is discharging west to the Peterson property and then across to his lake and property farther west.
"The water is not being detained in that pond," he said to village officials. "You guys are being deceived. I'm getting sediments and pesticides off the golf course in my lake, which I've been trying to keep clean.
"A very interesting thing happened after the Bergamont was built: We suddenly had rivers. When these developments were going up, the stormwater rules weren't being followed."
After reviewing the county's report, Village President Staton said Bergamont has worked with the village on finding solutions, but more needs to be done.
"I appears to me that there are things that need to be changed to be consistent with the original plans, and we'll certainly work with Bergamont to make that happen," he said. "Clearly there are some problems that have to be looked at, and it's in the interest of a number of parties to get those taken care of, and we're going to work on that. We'll be looking at that last stage of the development to see what can be done to change the flow of that water, just like the report says.
"I'm real interested in taking a look at that lack of infiltration on the golf course once the snow is off," Staton added. "That's a lot of land for that not to happen on, it seems to me."
Village administrator Mike Gracz said he's withholding judgment until all the facts are in. He reiterates that the stormwater review report is only a draft, and notes that even its authors say more information is needed.
Gracz said he and other village officials decided to release the report in draft form because there are so many parties involved and for the sake of transparency.
"The whole thing about infiltration in the golf course, we're probably going to have to physically go out there and look at that in the springtime," he said. "To me, the question is what was in the stormwater management plan, and did they follow it or not follow it? That's the big issue. The No. 1 issue is: Was the course designed per the stormwater management plan? If it wasn't, let's identify those things and decide what to do with them. At the end of the day, that's what we need to do."
Gracz stressed that whether the development of Bergamont complies with county and village requirements or not, "if something is causing a problem, then we'll work with the owners and try to deal with it. I anticipate us taking each and every part of that report and going through it. If at the end of the day what CARPC is saying is right, then we'll have to deal with it. But at this point, it's still a document in draft form."
