Commissioners discuss stormwater projects

Lorain County commissioners heard another presentation Aug. 21 on their stormwater projects in Sheffield Township.

During the Aug. 14 meeting Don Romancak, deputy director of the county’s stormwater district, presented the commissioners with a final report on the Lake Avenue Stream Restoration Project displaying the extensive changes made to the stream in an effort to facilitate proper water flow.

This week Matt Arnold, a stormwater technician for the district, spoke about the Clinton Avenue ditch system and the creation of a water retention basin near the Lorain County Elections Board, 1985 N. Ridge Road.

This basin is downstream from the Lake Avenue project and is part of a broader stormwater plan the commissioners are implementing in the township as a way of alleviating the flooding that has historically plagued the area during large rain storms.

Previously, the water in the ditch was passed through a pipe into a large drain which just flushed the water through without retaining it or slowing it down, Arnold said.

The project involved creating a large basin, or what Romancak calls a hole in the ground, which collects the water, stopping it from flooding the surrounding area.

There were several issues with the project including the 25 inches of rain the county received in June and the discovery while digging up the site that it had once been used to hold refuse such as asphalt, old tires and the back end of an old truck, Arnold said.

He described the route water takes into and out of the basin.

“(Water comes in) under North Ridge and then it flows through kind of a channel that is created through the middle of that and during high flow events it starts to fill up the retention basin to retain it which prevents downstream erosion and things because we’re retaining that water and slowing the velocity,” he said. “It also helps with flooding issues because the waters, instead of all coming through at one time, we’re reducing the amount and slowly trickling it out of this detention basin downstream.”

During the presentation, county Administrator James Cordes also announced the county has nearly completed the purchase of the old Gargus Hall property, 1969 North Ridge Road, to expand on the Board of Elections facility.

“We’re going to convert Gargus Hall into training rooms and storage facilities for the Board of Elections,” he said after the meeting.

He said the board’s new election equipment is currently being stored in a facility in Lorain, but the board needs room closer to their facility for training and maintenance on the equipment.

Cordes said the building will need some renovation, as it has mostly been converted into living spaces, but the cost of those renovations would be cheaper than new construction.