By Robert Barron, Staff Writer
Enid News and Eagle
ENID —
Nine people died in Enid during a 1973 flood, and since that time, flood control has been a primary concern for city government; however, a local developer contends it has not been done properly and some funding does not show work done.
At the Monday meeting of the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, Bob Berry passed out information along with maps showing what he believes are problem areas in the city.
Berry, of D.C. Bass Construction and Bobsfarm Inc., has said the city did not perform due diligence and filed a lawsuit in 2008 regarding building detention ponds for new developments. That lawsuit has been on standstill status while Berry worked with the city hoping to resolve the issues.
However, the city recently filed a motion to dismiss the 2008 petition by Bobsfarm against the city, and Bobsfarm recently filed a response and will continue with the lawsuit unless the city becomes more aggressive in mitigating flooding.
Berry said Thursday the city did not do what it said it would, and he has filed a reply to the city motion to dismiss and will be filing specifics and expects a hearing within two weeks.
“We have been trying to get this resolved and have made headway with staff. It’s a commission thing,” he said.
Berry said he felt it important to tell the MAPC how serious the situation is.
“What if Tuesday’s rain lasted an hour longer? We would have a big mess. We aren’t making headway,” Berry said.
City Attorney Andrea Springer said the original lawsuit is no longer valid because what it sought to prevent, the Atwoods parking lot, already has been built.
Boggy Creek and its tributaries have been cleaned out and other flood control measures taken, but a recent study said the problem may be worse.
Berry said he doesn’t mind being called an alarmist. He recalls the 1973 flood cleanup and hopes that does not happen again.
“Flooding in many parts of Enid is worse than it’s ever been, not from the lack of engineering, but the lack of enforcement and municipal accountability,” Berry said.
Berry told the MAPC members Enid is the main downstream recipient of all stormwater in the Boggy Creek Basin.
“We flood from unregulated upstream development,” he said. In addition, the city is now flooding portions of Indian Hills and Brookside from the storm water from West Boggy Creek, he said. Berry said the city moves stormwater funds into the general fund and diverts much of the storm water funds to other uses or sends it to another drainage area, such as Crosslin tributary. He said the city of Enid has no accounting of use of any of the developer fees or the protection it provided.
Berry outlined some parts of the 2008 Master Stormwater Study done by city consultant Envirotech. The study states in the urban models in the main Boggy Creek channel, significant flooding will occur downstream in the Valley View Basin and Brookside Basin, where significant flooding occurred in 1973. Compared with the Federal Emergency Management Agency floodplain map for the existing conditions in Brookside, the flood level in the housing addition is three feet. That increase mainly is due to the increased urban areas and expanded land use that has occurred in Enid since 1991.
In the old Boggy Creek channel, which is south of Garriott from 5th to Hayes, the channel receives flow from the spill of West Boggy leading to Meadowlake Park. West Boggy and the Meadows tributary enter the big channel under Cleveland at two locations south of Garriott, which combined with additional urban areas results in flooding throughout the basin, according to the Envirotech study.
Upstream flooding mainly occurs between Hayes and Lincoln, and affects several structures between Fillmore and Tyler streets. Downstream flooding is more expansive with encroaching stormwater flooding about 47 structures between Harrison and the confluence of north Boggy Creek, Berry said, referring to the Envirotech study.
Berry also said the city planning department did not thoroughly review a 63-lot plat in Longhorn Estates before it was recommended for approval. Those estates are part of the Garfield County government responsibility.
Berry alleges there has been a major reallocation of payments in the 73701 zip code portion of Enid. Those are development fees, mostly from industry, and utility fees from all water users. Those funds, he said, have been diverted to 73703 zip code, or from east side to west side. Berry also stated there is a lack of stormwater projects in 73701, including the city’s industrial parks as compared to 73703.
Brookside residents showed up angry at an April public meeting after hearing the city may want to purchase some of the homes in the Boggy Creek flood plain. Two options were discussed, including moving water to an area south of town and constructing a lake, which would cost about $25 million to $30 million, or purchasing about 60 homes in the Brookside addition and creating a drainage channel to move water through the area. The possible lake site is at Skeleton Creek and Oklahoma 51.
The homes would be removed from the blocks of Dwelle and Brooks, and possibly some houses on Valley View.
In a previous interview with the News & Eagle regarding Berry’s concerns, City Manager Eric Benson said the city is doing all it can to address flooding. He said one consideration has been to build a bypass channel starting at Brookside and going down past the sewer plant.
That solution still is being studied, Benson said.
