Letters to the Editor
Here's what happens when homes are built in wetlands and sewers are in adequate in town
By Liz Kaszubski
Apr 5, 2005, 11:56

While there is no real plan to alleviate flooding in my area, the City of North Tonawanda prioritizes $2 million for unneeeded projects.

I submitted the following correspondence to our City Engineer.


City Engineer
City Hall, North Tonawanda, NY 14120

April 4, 2005

Dear Mr. Marshall,

I'm sure you will recall Channels 2 & 7 visiting my backyard on July 31, 2004. It was just another in a long series of flooding events. Some of this is still on the Citizens for a Green North Tonawanda web site at: http://www.geocities.com/ntgreencitizen/amherst.html.
The Tonawanda News has also done an excellent job covering flooding problems in this city. That's where it seems to end, though.

The real problem is there is no plan whatsoever to alleviate flooding in our neighborhood. Instead, the City prioritizes $2 million from Congressman Reynolds for unneeded new projects, i.e., the Meadow extension, when the City is not taking care of existing problems.

As you will see from the attached photos we are flooded again as we have been more than once annually for many years. We paid the City our $9,000+ share in special assessments for the design and construction of this street and its sewers. It's DEFECTIVE! We actually planted the tree in the one photo 2-1/2 feet above ground level because all of our prior efforts to grow trees failed.



I was hopeful that you would finally do something about this deplorable situation after our meeting with you on August 5, 2004. That meeting was attended by Paul Leuchner (retired chief of the regulatory branch of the US Army Corps of Engineers), Bill Slomba (my neighbor) and myself. Unfortunately, none of us has heard a response from you to date on the issues brought up at that meeting.

Not only are we affected, but the neighborhoods surrounding us are, also. The filled-to-capacity storm sewers affect Fairfield, Birch, Doebler, Master, i.e., the streets that are at the dead of the NT storm sewer system that are attached to Ruie Road. Our yards were dry on Friday but since the City storm sewer filled up on Saturday the water has continued to back up into our yards. It doesn't appear to be over yet as the water has not yet receded below street elevation in the storm sewer receiver in front of my house.

You admitted that the storm sewer for our street was undersized by your predecessor... but what are you going to do about it? The water is closing in on our basement windows and is over 6-8 inches deep in most of the yard. Do you have any sandbags? We can't get flood insurance as our insurance agent says our flooding is "man-made" and not in an official floodplain.

Actually, do you have any heart? You have a family just as we do. How would you like to have to find an alternate location for your son's upcoming high school graduation because you had to deal with a backyard that fills up with water so quickly that no one would be crazy enough to schedule a picnic in your yard? It only takes a storm of 1.5 inches in a short matter of time to do this.

What have you, or are you, going to do to address this deplorable situation? Why don't we have a pump unit relieving the storm sewer overflow on our street as they do in other parts of this City today, i.e., Schenck & Division, Nash & Walck, Wurlitzer, etc.? How can you add the many planned new homes in North Tonawanda without taking care of existing taxpayers' flooding issues?

The mayor and several council members do not have e-mail listed on the City's web site. Please give them a copy of this.

Very truly yours,

Liz Kaszubski
Certified Geologist #4330



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