Preserve Midtown

You can still have some influence in the construction process by helping the city monitor that the builder is compliant on building regulations.

1. You have the right to check the demolition and building permits at the city permit office, 111 S. Greenwood.  These permits should be acquired by the builder before the action begins. 
2. A building plan should be on file with the building permit.  You can get a copy on request, 596-9656 or online https;//secure2.cityoftulsa.org/TimeLine3/planreview.aspx  Check the plan to make sure the house being built is the one that was permitted.  Report any discrepancy to the Mayor’s Hot Line, 596-2100 & to the Permit Office, 596-9656.
3. If the builder does not take adequate measures to stop run-off of silt and debris from his site, please call the Mayor’s hot line, 596-2100 and Scott Van Loo, 591-4379 to report. 
4. Continue reporting the lack of erosion control until it is corrected.  Silt is the biggest contributor to storm drains backing up and flooding.
5. Call the Mayor’s hot line anytime you see someone empty paint or other debris emptied into the storm drain, 596-2100.  This is an unlawful act.  Get a license number.
6. Contact your city councilor about any of the above problems.  They need to know what is happening in their district!

Clogged storm drains are a major factor contributing to neighborhood flooding.

These are good ways we can protect our neighborhoods.

Teardowns are older homes in established neighborhoods that are demolished to make way for a new infill house to take its place.
Infill is the new building structure.
Sewers are of two types: Stormwater sewers and Sanitary Sewers. Stormwater sewers are designed to carry away the water run-off from a rain storm or snow melt to our Arkansas river. Sanitary sewers are a smaller diameter pipe than the stormwater pipe and is designed to carry away our household sewage to a treatment plant.

 In the older established neighborhoods, the stormwater sewers and the sanitary sewers have been in place since the area was first developed years ago. This can be for 50 or more years in midtown.

The sewers develop leaks as they age over time. A sink hole of varying size can develop where a storm sewer leaks. Unfortunately, when a sanitary sewer leaks, it infiltrates the ground around it and sometimes enters a broken storm sewer. Yes, this means raw sewage can be found at times in our drainage into our river. These pipes were designed to carry a certain volume of drainage based on the expected build out of homes at that time.

Lately our rainstorms in Tulsa have been very strong, amounting to one or more inches in a short time. When all this extra volume of run-off goes into our aged sewer systems, we often get back-flow as the current system is overloaded and cannot manage the increase from the storms.

At the same time, with less ground exposure due to new infill that now fills the lot, there is increased run-off from these properties and from the open lots that lack adequate erosion control. An erosion abatement fence is required on each building site. We do not have adequate city staff to review every building site adequately. You, the neighbor, must call with a complaint to get enforcement. You must be vigilant with this and keep calling if the developer does not keep the erosion control in place. Without this fence, the storm sewer gets blocked with silt, leaves and other debris from the building site.

Brookside and other neighborhoods experienced a flood event in September, 2007. The heavy downpour from that storm resulted in sheetflow flooding. This rain storm caused erosion as described above and the storm sewers backed up due to clogged sewers. Streets and yards flooded and many basements backed up with storm water as well.

The basement flooding was caused mostly by overland flow into the basements which have drains in them that flow into sanitary sewers. When the sanitary sewers could not drain, they backed up into the basements. While the sewage was a relatively small component of the flood waters, it was much more damaging.

There are many factors which make up our storm and sanitary sewer problems: clogged sewers, older pipes that are breaking down, lack of effective erosion control fencing, heavier than normal rainfalls, more groundwater runoff due to more land covered with larger houses.

We can affect this problem easily with better enforcement on new contruction sites and addition of impact fees for developers to help with the expense of the increased demands on old infrastructure.

There is no doubt our city has some budget problems. Impact fees can go a long way to help improve our sewers!

Author: Herb Beattie

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