Drainage looms as main issue for proposed Merrillville houses

A revised single-family housing development planned in the Savannah Ridge subdivision has received tentative approval from Merrillville planners, but now must devise a drainage plan to get a final go-ahead.

Merrillville attorney Richard Anderson and engineer Doug Homeier presented plans for 60 houses on a 30-acre section of Savannah Ridge south of 73rd Avenue. A conservation area would be in the middle, where wetlands lie.

Anderson said they were only seeking tentative approval for the concept and then would work with engineering administrator Steve King, and Matt Lake, executive director of the Merrillville Stormwater Utility, on drainage issues.

Planners said they like the concept, but worry about drainage.

“I found some major problems where you’re proposing a retention pond and where your wetlands are,” commission member Brian Dering said. When the Lake County Public

Library and other buildings were constructed on U.S. 30 in the 1970s, drainage from U.S. 30 was diverted into the Savannah Ridge area, leaving residents there with water issues, he said.

“You need to be able to tell those residents you won’t exacerbate their problem,” Dering said.

C o u n c i l ma n Je f f re y Minchuk, D-3rd, whose ward includes Savannah Ridge, said he likes the proposal and believes the commission needs to move forward on it. But he noted that he has talked to residents and heard their concerns about water.

Commission member Ric Holtz lives in the subdivision. He said he also likes the concept of the project, but worries about drainage.

Lake said the project has been in the works for a year and he has told the developers that no water can go into the current Savannah Ridge development. Instead, drainage would run to the west, he said.

Karen Caffarini is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.