Officials cite hazardous conditions; consider year-round ban
By Kellen Olshefski
Correspondent
In a report to the full council Monday night, Alderman Michael Kluck informed fellow councilmembers the City of Elkhorn Municipal Services and Utilities Committee has been discussing issues concerning homeowners with sump pumps that discharge directly into city streets.
Kluck said homes in the city that are discharging onto city streets are causing hazardous conditions, especially this time of year as water being pumped into the street is causing ice to build up, at times across the entire width of the street. He noted committee members learned some of the older parts of the city do not have sewers for residents to connect their sump pumps to.
Kluck said the committee discussed potential solutions for residents, such as installing French drain garden or pumping it directly into their lawns. He said City Administrator Sam Tapson said that the city should consider costs to these residents in determining how it will move forward with the concern and that the city should help out.
According to Kluck, at the committee meeting, it was discussed aldermen would like to see language about draining sump pumps within city ordinances, prohibiting the drainage of sump pumps into city streets between October and May, requiring residents to drain into their yard, more toward the rear of the property. Kluck said Tapson was directed to prepare an ordinance for the committee to review at its next meeting, and in the meantime, direct those currently discharging into city streets to cease doing so.
City Attorney Ward Phillips questioned Monday night why the committee only focused on winter-time drainage, noting that even in warmer temperatures large amounts of water draining into city streets could still present a hazard for motorists, especially in times of storms which result in large amounts of discharge.
“I know, because if you come down West Street, that happens there sometimes,” Phillips said. “Out on the cul-de-sac next to my house, behind Frank’s, that little cul-de-sac, it was under water. It would seem to me if you’re going to do it, you might just want to do it year-round.”
While legislative issues would typically come before the City of Elkhorn Legislative and Regulatory Committee, Alderman Hoss Rehberg said the topic was put before the Municipal Services and Utilities Committee first, to allow aldermen to discuss potential solutions for affected residents prior to creating an ordinance and putting them in a position where they are forced to comply.
“We wanted to bring it to Municipal Services to look for a solution or determine what the city would partake in,” Rehberg said.
Tapson said Public Works Manager Neal Kolb has already sent out notifications to city residents with sump pumps that discharge into the street, asking them to take steps to correct the problem.
Kolb said so far he has heard back from four property owners in the city, who essentially wanted to know what their alternatives would be. In his letter to residents, Kolb said he explained the city is looking for voluntary compliance at this time.
“We’re asking if there’s anything else that they can do with their water while we work on developing a program for this to try and avoid the travel situation that we’re having,” Kolb said.
Before moving on from Kluck’s report, Phillips asked if councilmembers preferred he draft the ordinance to be for just the winter months previously discussed by committee members, or to prohibit pumping into the streets year-round.
Rehberg said he would prefer to see the ordinance encompass the entire year, noting that even in summer months, water pumping into the streets or curbs can cause damage to those streets.
“I personally think it should be year-round,” Rehberg said. “It’s just that in other communities, it is common that they make them pump not into the street during those months, and that’s why it was brought up at the committee.”
Additional details about an ordinance prohibiting the drainage of sump pumps into city streets are expected to come up for discussion at the committee level in future weeks, following the completion of a draft ordinance.
