HUMBOLDT — Three Barnes Crescent residents were in attendance during council’s November meeting, requesting action to mitigate stormwater flooding on the street.
Resident Murray Stevens was the spokesperson for the delegation that expressed their problems to Humboldt council during their Nov. 22 meeting.
“I just want to emphasize the importance of doing something fairly quickly,” Stevens said. “It's been almost two years since we had our last major flood in that area. Insurance is very, very difficult – very limited and our street is going from potholes to worse.”
The city is currently conducting a city-wide stormwater report that is expected to give options for mitigation.
Joe Day, Humboldt’s city manager, said once they have the final report back it can be vetted by public works before heading to an executive meeting of council for discussions, where the director of public works will be given instructions as to how to move out and consult with stakeholders.
Michael Behiel, Humboldt’s mayor, informed the delegation of Barnes Crescent residents that they will be kept in the loop as stakeholders.
In an interview with the Humboldt Journal after the delegation concluded, Stevens said residents would like to see a retention pond that keeps their street clear.
“We got flooded very hard,” he told the Journal. “One fellow had water so deep it went into his garage. That’s probably four feet of water. The retention ponds and stuff aren’t working, that water drained out of the football field before our water did – so something isn’t engineered properly.”
Stevens said the north corner gets the worst of it. That residence is occupied by Dwayne Thibault, another one of the residents who attended the meeting.
“It’s just nice to see that the city council is looking at different solutions to rectify this problem.” Thibault said. “Just to know that they have brought in different studies and have looked at new ones to try to find a way to fix the problem.”
