Most of the key parties involved in a controversy over the Bergamont development's management of stormwater runoff met Monday with village officials to tell their sides of the story.
The key players responded to a draft report on the matter prepared by Dane County officials Kamran Mesbah and Jeremy Balousek. The report raised concerns that the 523-acre development may not be in compliance with the management plan approved by Dane County.
Landowners living west of the Legend at Bergamont - including longtime residents Phil Peterson and Jim Weber - described how rain water and the accompanying sediments, fertilizers and pesticides flowing off the development were winding up on their properties and causing problems. They complained that a pond on the Bergamont golf course was releasing too much water and keeping farm fields wet too much of the time, hampering productivity.
Homeowner Mike Brant, who resides in the development at 347 Riviera St., talked about his efforts over the past two years to alleviate flooding on his property. He said water from an undeveloped section of the Bergamont was flowing north instead of west, as permitted, and contributing to flooding of his backyard.
Representatives from The Legend at Bergamont and its owner, Fiduciary Real Estate Development, defended their project and insisted that residential neighborhoods in Bergamont, as well as the golf course, are in compliance with village and county permits and ordinances regulating stormwater and rates of runoff.
Managing partner Jack Gaudion explained that his company is relatively new to the project and bought it "in a very bad condition."
"We weren't aware of Mr. Peterson's issues until last May," he said.
Gaudion described steps taken to reduce runoff problems on neighboring properties, such as lowering the water level of a detention pond on the golf course.
The development's engineering consultant, Rob Wright, said he had read the report and it seemed to confirm that "the pond is working as modeled."
"Do we think that this is functioning the way it was permitted? From my reading (of the report), it says, yes, it was," Wright said. "I think it's functioning the way it was thought it would. I'm not saying there isn't a problem. But it's functioning as it was designed."
Village president Steve Staton noted that the Bergamont's stormwater system "was working fine the vast majority of the time," but added: "Maybe it works the way it's designed, but there's still a problem or else there wouldn't be a room full of people here tonight."
Peterson conceded that he has, at times, seen improvements in the amount of water flowing into his farm fields and airplane runway.
But in a letter that he read to the gathering, Peterson asked, "Why are you turning my green waterway into a muddy wetland?"
"What you folks are doing is turning these beautiful green waterways into a muddy wetland and destroying farmland," Peterson said. "Before Bergamont, we would cut the grass in these waterways two to three times a year for animal feed. Now they never dry up until late summer, so we can get only one cutting. By that time of year, they have lodged so bad and the ruts that have developed make it impossible to do a good job of harvesting."
He said the result is a loss of income. The plants that do survive don't produce to their potential, which means further loss of income, Peterson said.
He added that developer Dan Fleming, who initiated the Bergamont project, assured him in December 2001 that the detention pond would "fully retain a 10-year event of rainfall and a controlled release over a 24- to 48-hour period."
"I believe we have an engineering failure," Peterson said. "I don't believe the pond is large enough. The water volume is only going to increase as you build out the present phase."
Wright insisted that stormwater runoff from the development meets "pre-settlement conditions," suggesting that there is less runoff and runoff at a slower rate than before the area was inhabited.
Staton wondered if there were anything Bergamont engineers could think of to hold back more water: "Let's say you were to present something that would fix this situation. Do you have any suggestions of what that would be?"
Gaudion stepped in to provide an answer. "I think the biggest and best thing we can do is try to hold more water in that pond," he said. "We've just got to keep working at it. The only other option is creating more storage."
He ruled out the possibility of building another pond on the golf course, and noted that "we've had much greater precipitation than normal in the last three years."
Sue Weber, who lives on South Fish Hatchery Road with her husband, Jim, scolded Bergamont representatives for addressing the concerns of only a few, and said property owners west of the development ought to be included in discussions and decision-making.
"I think it' shameful that Bergamont sits here and addresses only Mr. Peterson, when many neighbors are affected," she said. "They need to meet with us, and not behind closed doors, to get this resolved. We sit here meeting after meeting with no resolution."
Staton assured her that "the plan is to keep this before us to get this resolved."
On Tuesday, Staton said he was disappointed that the report's authors did not attend the Monday night meeting.
"We have a fair amount of discussion to have with Kamran and Jeremy Balousek," he said. "Then we're going to have to look at what solutions are out there and how we might proceed.
"It's complicated by the fact that some downstream people want less water, because it runs through their fields and into their drumlin pond, and then another adjacent homeowner wants the water out real fast so his runway will dry. So there are two opposing desires. Also, it's complicated by the fact that it's not in the village; it's water that's leaving the village.
"So we'll have to see what solutions engineers come up with, what suggestions are made and what we might do. But it looks like we have to hold back more water in some way, and that's easier said than done."
