A long time ago, 2004 or 2005, a development was approved (Meadow Wood) for approximately 22 homes. One of the conditions of approval was that drainage from the development's detention pond, "the tank",
be connected to a drain line down Tangent Drive. The development could not continue, (houses couldn't be constructed) until this condition was met. I contacted Charles Knoll, Linn County Engineer, by email and asked for an update on the current work being done on Tangent Drive, the costs associated with this work and the expectation of completion. He wrote back with this response: (images provided by Seaton)
"In July of this year we indicated to the Developer, Silverway LLC, that Linn County Road Department would not construct the storm drain on Tangent Drive until we obtained a payment from them in the amount of $68,800.00. This payment was made pursuant to Condition 4 of the Developer's obligation of the Tangent Drive (CR22) Access Agreement, in which the developer shall provide funding equal to the cost of installing 400 lineal feet of 24" Class V concrete culvert and an amount equal to the cost of constructing a half street improvement to Tangent Drive along the Developer's road frontage. The length of the road frontage had been determined to be 320 feet. The cost for constructing this length of half street improvement is estimated to be $ 38,400.00. The cost of installing the 400 lineal feet of concrete culvert is estimated to be $30,200.00. The total cost due to Linn County Road Department was $68,600.00.
After this payment was made in the later part of July, the Linn County Road Department started to make plans to install the storm sewer. This had to be scheduled within other projects and commitments that were made at the time.
Linn County Road Department started construction this fall with the intentions of finishing the project in November or December. With the record rainfall in November that occurred we encountered conditions that required us to shut down the project.
The construction of the project will be completed when conditions allow. This may be as late as sometime in June 2007. I reviewed the cost of the project as it is presently being constructed. We expect the cost of the construction of the storm drain line up to the intersection of the development will be approximately $120,000. This includes all materials, labor and equipment associated with the project. The difference of the cost paid by Silverway LLC and the $120,000 will be paid by the Linn County Road Department. No state or federal monies are associated with this project.
The design and construction of the storm sewer was made to accommodate future full street development of Tangent Drive. Therefore, manholes and inlets for laterals have been added where it appears that future connection to the storm sewer may be requested. At this time the Linn County Road Department does not have any plans to develop Tangent Drive since the development that last year was expected to occur in the next few years does not seem likely to occur. We realize that this status may change.
Please realize that any connection to this storm sewer in addition to what we are presently constructing will require a utility permit from the Linn County Road Department. This connection may be conditional depending on the type of connection that is made (For example a retention system may be necessary). It is expected that the cost of the connection will be paid by the permitee, and not the Linn County Road Department.
There has also been some concern about the drainage crossing on Tangent under the rail road. Some large rocks were noticed to be piled up in the inlet this fall. These rocks were removed to allow a smoother entrance. This should increase the capacity of the crossing by 30 to 40 % when flowing full. The performance of the culvert with over 3 inches of rain in one day was a fairly good indicator of this improved performance.
Regardless, Linn County Road Department has contacted and is working with the railroad to improve the hydraulic capacity of this crossing. If this progresses well, we would hope that this would be completed this next summer."
