Brandon Twp – Hurd Road resident Kevin Willie is tired of waterlogged property.
‘When the township did drainage ditching in the fall of 2002, it created massive amounts of flooding,? said Willie.
‘Since these houses have come in the water is not being absorbed. All this has caused my driveway to break down and it had to be replaced.?
Willie, along with other Hurd Road residents are concerned with inadequate ditches. That, combined with several new homes and excavation of the new Brandon Fire Station 3 has caused extensive drainage issues.
In the fall of 2002 the Oakland County Road Commission installed drainage ditches, as well as a new culvert, and replaced an existing culvert with a larger one. The work was done along Hurd Road from Oakwood Road south, three-quarters of a mile. The ditch crosses under the road several times, and empties into a retention pond north of the Hazy Morn subdivision.
Willie contends the work significantly increased the amount of water runoff that collects from north of Oakwood Road.
Additional water, he says, is now routed into the existing stream, which meanders along both sides of the road, forcing flooding of Hurd Road properties south of the improvement.
However, Tim Palulian, Building and Planning Department Director says the improvements have alleviated the historic over- the- road flooding by directing that water to the detention pond at the south end of the ditching.
‘There have always been torrents of flowing water and standing water out there’it’s a low spot,? said Palulian. ‘It’s a natural drainage course.?
‘Now a lot of the water will be accepted into the detention pond and slowly released along Hurd Rd.?
Palulian said he has already seen the pond full of water, so he was comfortable with the engineering of the Phase I ditching done in 2002.
‘In the spring we did not hear that the ditching caused problems,? Palulian said.
The issue of new home construction has also been addressed by the township and Palulian says the four new homes in the Hazy Morn subdivision, as well as the three new homes built south of the last ditch, have not caused extra saturation because the grade changes done were to direct the water flow to that pond.
Installing the detention pond at the site of Fire Station 3 has already absorbed water problems for immediate neighbors of the station, according to Palulian, by collecting water from both north and east of the building and slowly releasing it back into the ground.
‘However,? Palulian continued ‘The township recognizes there is a water problem all along Hurd Rd.?
Redirecting the water by ditching the road all the way south to Granger and/or Hummer Lake Road is a costly project that will take time, according to Township Supervisor Ron Lapp who says township funding is limited and the project must be done in phases.
‘We have to do it in bits and pieces,? said Lapp.
‘It was a 2002 project that we planned for and saved money from the ?01 budget to combine with the ?02 budget.?
‘Phase I was over $180,000 and now we are looking at state budget cuts,? he said.
Lapp said accommodating residents? needs drove up the cost by saving trees, which citizens demanded to keep, as well as installing enclosed tubes instead of cutting into property owners? yards.
‘I’m sympathetic to their needs,? said Lapp.
‘We’re addressing the problems,?
‘Hurd Road is one of the roads that historically washed out and it’s no longer washing out.?
While the township is looking at budgeting tri-party funds from Oakland County, the Oakland County Road Commission, and the 2003 and 2004 budgets, no plans have been discussed for Phase II of the Hurd Road ditching.