To: Athertonians@Yahoogroups.com
Today at 12:27 PM
Friends,
Winter
rains have been few and far between but the town is actively working on
a Drainage Study. Tonight there is a Public meeting scheduled for the
Drainage Study master plan, where you can raise a concern about a
chronic drainage problem. Perhaps the rain in the last few days
reminded you about your issue: tonight is the time to make sure the town
knows about it. See the notice attached below for more information or
contact David Huynh to email him your concerns at: DHuynh@ci.atherton.ca.us.
—Valerie
From: Gary Lauder
ReplyDeleteSubject: Re: [Athertonians] Tonight: Drainage Study Masterplan - Public Meeting in Council Chambers at 6:00 pm
Date: February 6, 2014 5:09:23 PM PST
To: Valerie Gardner
Cc: "Athertonians@Yahoogroups.com"
I am out of town and won't be there, but for those who are considering it, here is some food for thought.
I assert that the current drainage requirements imposed on Atherton residents who are building anything on their property is out-of-proportion to the benefit derived by the rest of the town. My drainage monies have already been spent, so my purpose in sharing this is to lead to a change of policy to benefit others and the town.
On a 1.2 acre parcel on which we built a tennis court and are preparing to build a house, we spent about $100K on drainage:
The combined total is $100K give or take $5K.
1. The original job, including engineering and permits (Installed during tennis court construction) $65K
2. Driveway Drainage (Installed during driveway construction April 2013) $25K
3. Relocating and extending drainage bubbler (Installed when adjusting the fence Oct 2013) $10K
That's $100K on just one property that is on a flat lot that does not have any special characteristics and did not have any major drainage problems with its prior house. The objective is to prevent puddles that are too deep. While I accept that puddles are not a positive thing, everything has its value, and the price of avoiding puddles should, IMHO not be that high. By comparison, I have been trying to get the town to consider spending a sum between $50-500K building a roundabout at the intersection of Atherton Ave. and Alameda to alleviate the congestion that is costing the people who go through there almost a million dollars per year in wasted time and gas. For more on this, see: http://athertonroundabout.com
That is an example of an expenditure which provides Atherton residents with a benefit that would vastly exceed the costs, yet the town has not yet even allocated $2,500 of staff time to take the first step. These types of drainage requirements are a tax on residents in which the taxes that are paid are not to the town, and only minimally benefit the residents. If we are going to impose costs/taxes on our residents, let's make sure that they are for improvements that will make our lives better by more than the costs. I would choose bigger puddles and less congestion any day.
Thanks,
-GML
PS: Much as I find this intellectually interesting, I presently lack the time to engage in debate on the subject.
FROM: john@worthingcapital.com
ReplyDeleteDATE: Fri, 7 Feb 2014 09:35:28 -0800
SUBJECT: RE: [Athertonians] Tonight: Drainage Study Masterplan - Public Meeting in Council Chambers at 6:00 pm
I completely concur with Gary's well written note. We have just completed building two spec homes on Adam Way and our costs were equal, if not more for our two lots. My understanding is that all the retaining basin hocus pocus is
so the tanks would hold water and release it when it stopped raining thus making the flow more regular and prevent
overloading the system. Actually I am not sure if anyone knows why this had to be done, other than some water
engineer, now long gone, who had a folly.
Gary,
ReplyDeleteI have a drainage issue in the street in front of my property, which causes water to build up anytime we get precipitation of any quaintly. I have requested the City to please correct the problem, but have only been told they is not available funds for the repair.
I empathize with you regarding the out of proportion cost the City is requiring from you, when they are not willing to correct their own drainage problems.
Colienne Brennan
FROM: kgoldman5@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteDATE: Fri, 7 Feb 2014 10:25:15 -0800
SUBJECT: RE: [Athertonians] Tonight: Drainage Study Masterplan - Public Meeting in Council Chambers at 6:00 pm
Well said, traffic around that spot is crazy and unproductive, and just a spot for our police force to hang out.
ken goldman cfo