Stormwater improvements in Flour Mill to be looked at

Several options will be presented to city council on Feb. 9 to address stormwater improvements to alleviate flooding in the Mountain and Leslie Street areas.

In the summer of 2009, residents in the Flour Mill area experienced extensive flooding.

A city report cites “various factors” for the cause of the flooding, including a “lack of an overland flow route for major storms, uncontrolled lot infilling and grading within the older area, minimal size storm sewers built over 50 years ago, area roads with steep 10 per cent grades and...the intensity of the July 26, 2009 rainstorm.”

Last summer, city council passed a resolution that directed staff to develop a plan to deal with the historical flooding.

The report also stated the intensity of the storm was such that it was “deemed to be at least a one in one hundred year storm, and a rare event.”

According to a city report, resolving the flooding issues in the area would cost an estimated $3.7 million.

The price tag involves a number of options, including “the creation of a regional storm outlet channel through the Mountain Street and Leslie Street area to Junction Creek” at a cost of $1.8 million. This would be done in conjunction with “the creation of the north east drainage channel to Junction Creek.”

Further to that, work would also need to be done to create a drainage channel, develop a pond site flood barrier wall and build a pipe and channel east diversion of the Sunrise Ridge pond outline. The report stated it would cost $1.9 million to fix these issues.

The 2011 five year drainage capital budget envelope will include an allocation of $350,000 in the 2012 budget for engineering, public meetings, environmental approvals and other associated work in anticipation that work be done on the area. The report further stated that the 2012 funding could be advanced into 2011 for work to be done earlier.

Unless additional funds are allocated for the project, the time frame to complete the upgrades could take between 5 and ten years.

A full report will be presented in detail at the Feb. 9 city council meeting.