Answers sought to flooding woes

By Elise Franco

The final phase of the Indian Run project in Canfield should be under way by 2010.

CANFIELD — Janie Matthews’ worst nightmare came true when a mid-June thunderstorm ripped through the Mahoning Valley, flooding the Indian Run apartment building she owns and causing more than $25,000 in damage.

Matthews and other property owners of Indian Run apartment buildings turned to the township trustees for answers during a July 14 trustees meeting.

“I wanted to hear that they had a plan,” Matthews said. “My goal isn’t to make them angry at all. My goal is to put the project in the forefront and have them continue to look at it until it’s done. I was just really seeking information.”

The information she received was about a project that began at least eight years ago to rid the township of longtime flooding problems, Trustee Bill Reese said.

Reese said the goal of Phases I through III was to concrete the bed of the Indian Run Tributary, install a culvert replacement and build a retention pond off Fairway Drive. Phase IV includes remodeling the Indian Run tributary so the stream is rechanneled.

Costs for Phases IV and V are estimated to total about $853,000.

Phase IV will cost about $253,000. Reese said the township is waiting on about $98,300 in grant money from the state, and the township is responsible for the rest.

He said once the grant money is released, the township will take bids on the construction for Phase IV. The grant application for the final phase of the project, a large retention pond, is due in December, and construction should be under way in about one year, Reese said.

“It’s the most critical point in the project,” he said. “We had to put it off because of the cost. It’ll cost about $600,000 to do that phase.”

Rob Rupeka, director of business development for EDM Management Inc., said he also attended the meeting to hear what the trustees had to say. He said he manages two Indian Run properties owned by R & V Realty.

“We’re very disappointed that the trustees have been unable to adequately resolve this recurring problem,” Rupeka said, “It’s something like three times in four years that we’ve been flooded.”

He said both apartment buildings he manages, 3711 and 3785 Indian Run, have been damaged in the past.

“This most recent time the damage estimate is $12,000 to $15,000 to repair,” Rupeka said. “It’s an issue that affects local business and local residents, in addition to just our building.”

He said he feels the trustees’ responses were incomplete.

“We’re uncertain about how long it’s been held up,” he said. “They have a plan. They know what they want to do, but they weren’t able to give us much confidence that they knew where they stood.”

Trustee Randy Brashen said he understands the concern and frustration residents and property owners are feeling.

“They’re upset,” he said. “This is a problem we have to fix. These poor folks, every time is rains hard, it floods their basements.”

Brashen said he has taken some extra steps while the township awaits its grant money by contacting Ken Carano, Gov. Ted Strickland’s regional director.

“[Carano’s] office is trying to see if there’s stimulus money,” he said.

Brashen said one of the problems is that a drainage pipe running under Tippecanoe Plaza is too small and is easily clogged. The pipe is on private property though, which makes it illegal for the township to touch.

“We’re doing what we can, but our hands are tied. We cannot go on private property and clean out that creek,” he said. “I am begging the people who do have creek property to clean their own banks for the sake of their neighbors.”

Rupeka said the trustees’ efforts are appreciated, but too much money already has been lost in damages.

“They’ve committed to us that they would work to make it happen soon,” he said. “From our perspective, we’ve already lost money, and another year is another potential cost to us.”

Matthews said she had to use money from her own pocket to pay for hotel rooms for displaced tenants.

“My tenants were displaced for almost a week until we could make sure they could get back in safely,” she said. “They could have probably stayed there, but I knew it wouldn’t be comfortable for them to stay in an apartment with no carpet and wet walls.”

efranco@vindy.com