T&D is installing storm infrastructure.

I responded to her email with the following: Yes, it was more complicated than it looked but I finally got a design to the guys that would avoid the other underground utilities a couple weeks ago. I'm glad they are out there installing it because I noticed you don't have the sand bags in front of your garage anymore! You will probably still get runoff from the sidewalk running down your drive because of the way it is sloped but I hope we can pick up most of the street drainage. Please let me know if you have any other issues.

I received the following email from the homeowner this morning: Hi Jane. We haven't talked in a long time but I just wanted to drop you and line and let you know how THRILLED we are to see the city is working on our water flow issues in the street! Fingers crossed that this solves (or at least improves) the flooding issue for us. Can't thank you enough! :-)

I provided a storm sewer design to T&D last week. Tony said he thought they could get to this within the next few weeks.

I received the following email from Laura: Thank you so much for keeping us posted. And if we're lucky we won't get hit hard tonight (like Indy!) :-)

I sent the following email: Laura, Just wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten about you. I'm still waiting for our crew to get depth information on those gas services. Our large vactor is not operational again but I've asked them to try it with a smaller machine because I need that information before I can complete my design. I'll keep you informed as I know more. Thanks for your patience.

She responded with: Thank you so much for the update, Jane. We will hang tight....and we have left the sandbags up, at least they slow things down. We REALLY appreciate your help. Have a wonderful vacation!

I sent the following email today: Laura, I wanted to get you an update before I leave for a vacation on Thursday. I have a proposed design but there are two underground gas service lines we will have to cross to run the new storm pipe from north of your drive to tie into the existing storm infrastructure near Allendale. I need to have these lines exposed so I can try to design around them as it is generally easier than trying to get the gas company to relocate them if they're in our way. The problem is that we do this work (exposing the gas lines) with a large vactor machine to minimize the disturbance because only a small excavation is necessary. Unfortunately our vactor is not operational right now and I'm not sure how long it will be before we get it back. I actually have a list of 5 other areas for which I need similar information. So, I just wanted to let you know it's still going to be some time before we can get in there and do the work... and I'm hesitant to even give you an estimated time because some of the factors are out of my control. I can tell you I intend to get this done as soon as I've gotten all the information I need and have ordered the materials, but realistically, this may still be a couple of months out. So sorry for that but thought it would be best for you to know this. I will keep in touch with you as things progress so you have a better idea, but in the mean time, please keep the sand bags in place and make sure your drain and pipe are clear of any obstructions and that the runoff has a clear path away from your drive if the water does try to pond up. Thanks, Jane

That's great, Jane, thank you! Since we were in Indpls, I had not idea we had TWO INCHES! That's a heck of a lot of rain. No wonder it breached the sandbags. Thanks goodness we had them down...could have been much worse! On 7-29-14 she responded with: Just get back with me when you can! I appreciate everything you are doing for us!

On 7-29-14 I responded to the email with: Laura, So sorry to hear your garage flooded again. We received close to 2 inches of rain so we've gotten reports all over town. I have a design sketched up for the storm project but need to run out there this morning and check something before finalizing it. Let me get that done and then get back with you. Thanks, Jane

On 7-27-14 I received the following email: Hello Jane, how are you? I just thought I would drop you a line to see if you could offer some advice. My husband and I were gone this weekend in Indianapolis, and while we were gone there must have been quite a rainstorm here. Believe it or not, when we came back home we saw that our garage had flooded yet again, and the crazy part is we had sandbags all along the bottom of our garage door -- and somehow the water breached the bags (either over them or around them) and got into the house anyway. The water did seep into a back wall into a closet on the ground floor. So I know there are budgetary issues in terms of getting new grates on the street, and I was wondering if you had any sense of a timeline. I guess I am trying to figure out if it's worth waiting on the city to try to get that done, or if the wait would be long enough that we really need to pursue hiring someone to reconfigure our own drainage system somehow. Also, I was wondering if you could recommend anyone in the area that does good drainage work. I'm not sure how much money this might cost out of our own pocket (which is a concern, of course) and it would be helpful to know of some reputable individuals in the area. Just looking for some advice, and I appreciate your help! It's a frustrating problem, to be sure. Sincerely, Laura Blahous-Mangin

After I met with the resident, I called in utility locates and had our technician map the existing utilities. I have developed a preliminary plan for storm infrastructure on Tudor Lane but cannot finalize it and order materials until we vactor 2 gas service lines we have to cross so I can try to design the storm pipe to avoid the service lines.