Drainage Issues Letter
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#b~ ity of all
Mike Maguire March 15, 2013
Mayor
Paul Bakken Mr. Frank Mitchell
Cyndee Fields 1730 Flamingo Dr.
Gary Hansen Eagan, MN 55122
Meg Tilley
Council Members Re.: Drainage issues at 1730 Flamingo Drive
Dave Osberg Dear Mr. Mitchell,
City Administrator This letter is being written at your request with the purpose of summarizing the
findings of my site visit earlier this afternoon. As I stated when we spoke on the
telephone earlier this week, your issue is strictly a civil matter and the City of
Eagan's only involvement is from a consulting perspective; as a se ice to
property owners. We have no authority to require either property owner or the
association to perform any work in order to remedy the situation.
Municipal Center
3830 Pilot Knob Road As stated above, I met with you at the property earlier today. After first owing
Eagan, MN 55122-1810 me the area of the basement where water is seeping in, we looked at the b k yard
651.675.5000 phone and surrounding areas. The back yards of all units in this building are extremely
651.675.5012 fax flat and drainage appears to be a problem. You informed me of drainag issues
you've had in the front of the property that have been addressed by the ass ciation
651.454.8535 TDD as well as neighbors within the same building who have experienced similar
issues, some of which have been addressed while others have not.
Maintenance Facility Temperatures were in the mid-30's at the time of our visit so there w some
3501 Coachman Point melting of snow taking place, nothing substantial though. The landscape rock
Eagan, MN 55122 along the building was wet where it was exposed to the elements but remained dry
651.675.5300 phone under overhangs. The only area where standing water was visible was at t 4e west
651.675.5360 fax property line, adjacent to 1732 Flamingo Dr. and in the bottom of the adjacent
651.454.8535 TDD window well. This is directly above the location in the basement where water is
seeping in.
www.cityofeagan.com Coincidentally, there is a downspout belonging to 1732 Flamingo Dr. adjacent to
this same property line. There are several accordion-type plastic downspout
extensions pieced together and connected to the end of the downspout. We were
not able to access the neighboring back yard for a closer look but from my
vantage point looking over the fence it appeared there was not positive g de for
the extensions to sit on. In fact, it appeared to me that there was back fall on the
The Lone Oak Tree pipe which is likely contributing to the problem.
The symbol of
strength and growth
in our community.
To help remedy the situation I suggest shortening the downspout and i falling
the downspout elbow further up on the building (several feet at a mi 'mum).
Next, I would install a solid wall aluminum extension made of the same aterial
the current downspout is made of. This should run along the fence that s parates
the two properties and could even be attached to it. The extension shout run all
the way to the rear fence, which is only about 15 to 20 feet away. By do ng this
the extension will not impede use of the back yard and will be less like to be
accidently removed from the downspout. The extension should be attache to the
downspout using sheet metal screws to ensure that the two stay connec d. In
addition, regular maintenance of the gutters and downspout are critical in order to
keep the system working properly.
While I can't say with 100% certainty, I feel that making this one fairly
inexpensive improvement will significantly improve the situation by taking water
runoff further away from the building before discharging it.
In addition to this improvement, I feel it would be highly beneficial or the
association to install a private storm sewer system along the back of the building,
along the outside of the privacy fence. This could be constructed with plastic
drain tile pipe to save on costs. The pipe should run east and then turn n h and
be connected to the catch basin in the southwest corner of the intersection of Red
Robin Ln. and Flamingo Dr. All downspouts and drain tile on the south side of
the building could then be connected into this system. Proper sizing of a pipe
will be important to ensure that it can handle the volume of water flowing ough
it. I feel this would significantly improve the overall drainage in this ea and
eliminate (or at least significantly improve) pooling water in this area of the
property.
I hope you find this information useful. If you have any questions or 'sh to
discuss the situation further please feel free to contact a at
dwestermayerkcityofea an.com or 651-675-5641.
Sincere
i
Dave Westermayer
Engineering Technician
C: 1730 Flamingo Dr. parcel file