Dearborn Department of Public Works Director Tim Hawkins addresses the city council during the Aug. 13 City Council Committee of the Whole meeting.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN – Mayor Abdullah Hammoud addressed concerns at his Aug. 13 city council briefing in response to resident concerns about the possible destruction of oak trees along Elmdale Street and Oakwood Boulevard.
A resolution passed as part of the Aug. 18 city council meeting’s consent agenda will allow the Department of Public Works and Facilities’ Engineering Division to execute storm and sewer easement agreements at 2201 Elmdale Avenue, 21175 Oakwood Boulevard and 21500 Oakwood Boulevard to allow the city to access existing stormwater and sewer utilities, subject to the approval of the city attorney.
Hammoud said the storm water and infrastructure study conducted over the past two years was done to determine how to best reduce flooding, as well as to come into attainment with the Clean Water Act and to prevent hazardous run-off from entering the Rouge River.
He said the contractual easements requested of the Ford Motor Company will allow the city access above and below its land for staging and maintenance.
Hammoud said he held a town hall meet with residents and a neighborhood association in a southwest section of Dearborn earlier in the week to clear up misinformation that had been spreading unchecked.
He said that while parts of Elmdale Avenue and Oakwood Boulevard will be part of the pathway for new stormwater and sewer lines, the city has not gone out for bid yet for the project design, and they do not know what impact the construction will have on the area.
Hammoud said it will take 18 months from when a firm is selected to determine what the scope of work will look like before any work even begins.
He said design work will occur in 2028, with construction beginning in the 2029 calendar year.
Hammoud said the stormwater line will allow the city to separate rainwater runoff from the sewer lines in the southwest area of Dearborn to come into compliance with the Clean Water Act, and the only way to do that is to have a stormwater line placed in the ground.
“The sewer separation does two things: it will help keep poop out of the Rouge River, and at the same time it hopefully helps keep poop out of your basements as well,” he said. “And, so, it helps reduce the likelihood of flooding, it adds capacity, but also allows us to come into compliance without having to do projects that do nothing for flooding, which we were originally mandated to do by EGLE.”
EGLE is the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, which is responsible for protecting public health and the environment.
Hammoud reiterated that the city wanted to pursue a project that mitigates flooding while maintaining the cleanliness of the river water.