Before businesses come in, water must move out
Behind Ted Boyle's North Lawrence home stands the levee that prevents the Kansas River from wiping away much of his possessions and memories.
As a long-time resident and president of the North Lawrence Improvement Association for the last 11 years, Boyle remembers a time before the levee. He also remembers when North Lawrence had a grocery store and a coin-operated laundry.
"Before any economic development hits in North Lawrence, there will have to be storm water issues taken care of," said Boyle, who has worked with numerous entrepreneurs to bring businesses to this hamlet across the river from downtown.
At the end of 2005, the HNTB engineering firm published the North Lawrence Watershed Drainage, and the city has slowly started implementing some of the recommendations. Although relieved that the city initiated the study in the first place, Boyle admits the process will take time because of the major financial commitment necessary.
"$16 million has to be spent on the internal parts of North Lawrence to make it adequate for the residents that are here now; not new development," said Boyle. "$25 million needs to be spent out by the airport."
Boyle insists that the city should not saddle the residents of North Lawrence with the bill for these improvements. Instead, he hopes that the money can be found through other means.
One likely source for the funds would be a rate hike on the water bill for all Lawrence residents to help make repairs for existing neighborhoods. Boyle prefers that the developers pick up the bill future projects.
The city has already started implementing some of those recommendations when it replaced one water pump and repaired another, both of which are located near the intersection of Locust and North Second streets. However, the pipes that carry the water do not have the capacity to keep up with these pumps.
Matt Bond, the new storm water engineer for Lawrence, said he hoped the city could replace the pipes at Locust and North Second streets when the city widens and repairs the intersection in fall 2007 or spring 2008.
A similar situation exists near Fifth and Maple streets. While the city plans to convert a former sewage pumping station to a new storm water station soon, the existing pipes will not be large enough for the pumps to operate at full capacity.
There is no timetable for installing new pipes at Fifth and Maple, but even with the old pipes, the benefits of the new station will be immediate.
"That will be number one," Boyle said. "If that's redone, that will affect about 100 residents."
In the meantime, there are other new technologies that the city hopes will work to alleviate the flooding problem, including a new permeable concrete that should allow water to seep through into the soil underneath rather than running off into an already saturated area.
"It looks like a rice crispy treat," Bond said. The city would like to experiment with the new concrete soon, but first Bond must wait to hear how well it worked in other communities.
New building practices are now being enforced within the city limits with, and should help prevent the situation from worsening.
Meanwhile, Ted Boyle and other North Lawrence residents will have to continue driving across bridges when they need a grocery store, coin-operated laundry, pharmacy and hardware store.
"The city commission is trying to come up with the money." Boyle said.
Though the problems can't be fixed over night, Boyle and other North Lawrence residents can take some comfort in knowing that some progress is being made.