Townhouse association examines storm damage issues
The Bella Vista Townhouse Association tabled its sole agenda item, repairs for a retaining wall on William Lane, during its Wednesday, Nov. 20, regular meeting.
General Manager David Whittlesey said he had not received bids for the project and would prefer to have two bids before voting on an option to repair the wall, so it was best to table it until the Wednesday, Dec. 11, meeting.
Whittlesey said he believes the wall, which sits on the west side of William Lane, between it and the Barbara Lane townhomes, failed because of extensive recent rains.
Additionally, he said, concrete block walls like this one have had more problems than poured concrete walls that are present at other locations.
The association spent $65,000 repairing a wall on Bentley Lane earlier this year, according to the Aug. 21 meeting minutes.
One Townhouse Association member, June Jeffries, came to address the directors and said she wasn’t satisfied with an $82,453.91 drainage project for Basildon Courts the association approved during a July 24 special meeting.
“All that work that was put in there hasn’t changed a thing,” she said.
Water is following the same path and washed out a lot of the work that was done previously, she said.
“Gravel’s all over the sidewalk,” Jeffries said.
President Tom Barber said he was concerned about the project’s effectiveness, and the contractor, Nabholz Construction, is expected to return to the site and improve on the previous work with more stone and attempts to reroute the water’s flow with help from Townhouse Association employees.
“You’re right, it doesn’t look really well,” he said.
Whittlesey said he believes the contractor failed to properly estimate the volume of water, but the situation is still improved somewhat because nearby structures were not flooded.
“It was simply overwhelmed with all the rain we had,” he said.
The work will need a permit from the city, he said, and the association has asked its contractor for a written plan for the site.
The association is trying to fix this issue on a limited budget, he said. A paved drainage path might work, but would cost significantly more, to the tune of $500,000, he said.
Jeffries said she was hoping for a quicker solution.
“Sounds like it’s going to take a while,” she said.