Agenda - Public Works Committee - 02/21/2012

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Rum River Hills, Inc. 16659 St Francis Irvd amsey Minnesota 55303 (763) 753-3339 September 29, 2011 Tim Himmer and Leonard Linton City Engineers City of Ramsey 7550 Sunwood Drive NW Ramsey, Minnesota 55303 Re: Storm sewer blockage and resulting flood damage to Rum River Hills Golf Course. Mr. Himmer and Mr. Linton: Please accept this letter upon your suggestion after having met with you relative to the above referenced matter. In a 1985 development agreement between the City of Ramsey and the proposed Rum River Hills Golf Course, a planned unit development (PUD) was established that allowed for a storm water drainage easement to be routed through the Rum River Hills Golf Course. At the time of construction (summer of 1986), the City of Ramsey constructed a combination tile, culvert and ditch system to remove the storm water from a large area west of the golf course which includes the shopping center and several square miles of residential property, as well as the Rum River Hills Golf Course area. This drainage system was subsequently upgraded by the City on two separate occasions. To the best of our knowledge, the upgrades were as follows: 1. 1999-2001 - the City extended the culvert on hole #6; 2. 2006-2008 — the City installed a cement intake on the end of the culvert referred to in item number (1) above. Unfortunately, there was no grate installed over the culvert opening to prevent debris, foreign objects and turtles from entering the culvert. The system appeared to be functioning properly and the golf course drained very quickly. We never had to reroute our customer traffic or close any portion of the course due to flooding. Then, on July 6, 2011, the system completely failed. The un-grated portion of the culvert became blocked. Turtles became trapped on debris and roots that had penetrated the walls of the culvert, which further contributed to the culvert's blockage. As a result, there was extensive flooding of the golf course, culminating in significant damage and losses to the Rum River Hills Golf Course. The golf course had to be completely closed for three days, and had limited use for several other days. We had to hire a company to unplug the culvert using a device called a letter", which expelled two very large turtles out the end of the culvert, along with other debris. As you can imagine, the financial stability of the golf course was severely impacted.