Mentor Administration Discusses Flooding at Council Meeting

Mentor City Administrator Ken Filipiak talked about what the city government is doing to address flooding in Mentor during the Thursday.

About 270 homes and business  February 28 in Mentor, Filipiak said. The most heavily hit residential developments were Bellflower Terrace Condos and Chestnut Commons Condos.

He said, of the 270 flooding victims, the city engineering department has talked to more than 200 owners in an attempt to identify what caused the flooding.

Filipiak said the most common factor is the basements of flooding victims were often close to the same elevation as their sanitary sewers.

Sanitary sewers are the responsibility of the county, not the city.

However, about 25 percent of the flooded homes had a problem with their storm sewers, Filipiak said.

The administrator added that each flooding incident may have had an individual cause, so it was unlikely that there was one project that could prevent any future flooding.

"There might not be much we can do in terms of large-scale public improvements. There could be, however, fixes at the private level," he said.

Filipiak said the Lake County Department of Utilities may start a pilot program that would offer devices to homeowners to prevent backflow.

Anyone whose home or business flooded that wants to talk with the city engineering department is encouraged to call 440-974-5785.

Also, at the City Council meeting:

• The meeting began with a moment of silence for , a Mentor resident who served as president of the state PTA.
• City Council agreed to sell the BB64 Wisconsin whale boat to the Nauticus Foundation for $15,000. The city of Mentor previously used it as a work boat but it was no longer in good enough condition. The Nauticus Foundation will preserve the vessel as a museum boat, Filipiak said.
• City Council entered into a deal with Becker Arena Products to sell . The city hopes to get up to $15,000 for the dasher boards it recently replaced.
• Council tabled its  and will discuss it more at a work session before its next meeting.
• Filipiak said rising gas prices have already cost the city $40,000 more than last year. He estimated that gas would cost Mentor between $200,000 and $250,000 more than in 2010 despite using about the same amount.