Press Release

ISSUE UPDATE

OWOSSO (COUNTY) DRAIN PROJECT

Status Report

Background

The City petitioned the Shiawassee County Drain Commissioner in 1997 for Improvements to the Owosso (County) Drain to address flooding in the southwest quadrant of Owosso. This drain serves a watershed of about 3500 acres with about 25% being in the City of Owosso, about 75% in Owosso Charter Township and just a small area in Bennington Township. The existing drain was found to be inadequate and in need of improvement. However, the magnitude of the project and proposed sharing of the improvement cost, led to litigation and several years delay. The engineering was completed and construction bids were finally taken in May 2001. The cost to be apportioned was set at $3.37 million. A Board of Review heard challenges to the assessment roll prepared by the County Drain Commissioner in late 2001. Subsequently, four appeals were filed with the Circuit Court challenging the assessments and seeking to stop, or reduce the scope of, the project. This litigation has now been settled and the project, somewhat reduced in scope and cost, will begin in 2005.

What will be done?

About 5,700 feet of 72” diameter concrete storm sewer will be installed from just north of Milwaukee St. (between Cedar and Chipman) to the southwest along the railroad right-of-way to south of South Street. This relief drain will route the majority of the storm flows from the watershed south and west of the City of Owosso to the mainline section of the former Comstock Drain that has excess flow capacity. The new 72-inch drain will relieve the existing, overburdened 54-inch drain that will remain in service primarily serving the City area. The 72-inch relief drain will have about four times the flow capacity of the existing 54-inch drain. There will be an inlet control structure on the 54-inch drain to allow it to accept excess flows from the south, but only up to the carrying capacity of the pipe.

Initially, the project included construction of a major (56 acre-feet of storage) storm water detention facility and improvements to the open drain and various culverts south of South Street, past Dewey Road, past Delaney Road, and all the way to Hibbard Road. The detention facility and open drain improvements were deleted from the project scope to settle the appeals brought in 2001, particularly that of Owosso Charter Township.

What is the construction schedule?

The Drain Commissioner has signed the construction contract with Zito Construction and has issued the Notice to Proceed. The contractor will begin limited clearing and preparation work beginning the week of January 17^th while pipe is being produced. They project beginning excavation and pipe installation in early March working from near Milwaukee Street southwest toward South Street along the railroad right-of-way. The schedule calls for substantial completion by the end of July and final completion by the end of August 2005.

What is the project cost and how is it financed?

Preliminary project costs of $478,000 were assessed against the drainage district in 2002. The September 2004 “computation of costs” to complete the project totaled $2,341,000. County Drain Bonds in the amount of $2,265,000 were sold in December to finance these remaining project costs. Note that the portion of the project costs paid by the State for highway drainage is prepaid and not included in the Bond financing. The Bond repayment will be over 20 years to 2025 at an average interest rate of 4.11%.

The $2,341,000 remaining project costs will be assessed to the drainage district in accordance with the Assessment Roll certified by the Board of Review on January 30, 2002. That assessment will begin with the winter tax bill issued in December 2005 for City residents in the drainage district. There was NOT an assessment for the Owosso Drain project on the 2004 Winter Taxes.

A portion of the project costs will be paid “at-large”; City of Owosso 8.72%; Shiawassee County 7%; Owosso Charter Township 6.12%; MDOT (state) 2.83%; and 1.74% to railroads. The remainder is assessed to property owners in the drainage district. The City will also be assessed about 4.7% for certain properties it owns in the district.

How much will the assessments be to landowners?

Assessment amounts will vary based on parcel size and land use. For a standard city lot (66’x132’ or 0.2 acres) and residence, the assessment amount would be about $550. A double lot (0.4 acres) with a single residence would be about $650. Commercial, industrial or multi-family uses are assessed at a higher rate since they generally have greater impervious surface coverage and greater run-off rates. Vacant and agricultural lands have lower per acre assessment factors.

Property owners will likely have the option to pay the full assessment in the late fall or to have the assessment spread over twenty years. For a total assessment amount of $600 to be spread over 20 years with interest, the amount due with next winter’s taxes would be on the order of $60 ($30 principle and about $30 interest for the first year). Subsequent annual amounts would decrease as the interest charge declines as the assessment principle is paid down. Please note these figures are for illustration. The County Drain Office will determine the actual final assessment roll, payoff policies and interest rate.

Will the improvements eliminate flooding in southwest Owosso and flood insurance requirements for properties currently in the “100-year” flood hazard zone?

The project will significantly reduce, but will not totally eliminate, flooding in southwest Owosso. The 72-inch relief drain was designed to handle the runoff from a “10-year” storm event. The retention basin was designed to reduce peak runoff rates from a 25-year storm event, but that portion of the project will not be constructed. However, the need for the retention basin is reduced by also eliminating upstream open drain improvements.  It will be important to maximize on-site retention requirements for any new developments in the upper portion of the watershed.

We expect a significant reduction, but not elimination, of the 100-year flood hazard area in southwest Owosso. An updated hydraulic analysis of the watershed will be required for the Federal agency to delineate a revised flood hazard zone and flood insurance requirements.