Ortonville – The unusual amount of rainfall over the past few weeks has people joking about feeling a bit moldy.
Not a joke to Village Manager, Paul Zelenak is that because of the series of recent heavy storms the village is becoming waterlogged.
‘Water is backing up in yards, septic are flooding, and there are three storm catch basins that are not working properly,? said Zelenak.
Not unlike holding their fingers in a cracked dike, for the past two weeks the Department of Public Works crew has been working nonstop, pumping, coaxing, and pushing water that is blocked and collects in three catch basins within the downtown area.
The first, explained Zelenak was the catch basin at the corner of Cedar and Ball streets.
After the first of the series of storms was over, water was left puddled on the streets at the intersection as well as the baseball fields.
Secondly Crossman Park, which is located next to the township office, pooled to nearly three feet of water, which required extensive pumping efforts by the DPW for several days.
As a result of the Crossman flooding water overflowed to Schoolhouse Street which caused saturation of the backyards abutting the park.
‘It looked like the catch basin in the township parking lot was blocked with silt and debris,? said Zelenak, explaining that the blockage has prevented the water to flow out of the park and down to Kearsley Creek.
After the DPW made several attempts to clear the basins in order to assess whether the ancient village drainage pipes are clogged, crack, or crumbling, Zelenak determined the scope of the project was not appropriate for the DPW to handle.
On Wednesday Service Group Inc., a drain specialists, was called to clear out the drains and to send a probe camera deep into the storm systems to investigate the cause of the blockages.
Currently Service Group Inc., and Zelenak are unsure of the extent of the damage, or how much the analysis will cost.