Strongsville Projects Aim at Flooding

Strongsville has launched two projects aimed at alleviated basement flooding in some areas of town.

Mayor Tom Perciak said a tree removal company has cleaned the flood-prone Blodgett Creek, and the city will hire a contractor to seal sewer lines in the Hunting Meadows area.

The work follows complaints by residents when their basements flooded in June, many for the second time in two years.

"We do listen to every resident's complaints and recommendations," Perciak said. "But it does take time."

Service Director Joe Walker said crews this week finished cleaning a one-mile stretch of Blodgett Creek from Prospect Road east to the railroad tracks, removing trees and branches as well as other trees on the bank that posed a danger of falling into the creek and blocking it.

And on Monday, City Council authorized the mayor to hire a contractor to seal sanitary sewer lines to prevent storm water from infiltrating them.

City Engineer Ken Mikula said the $500,000 project will be done in the Stillbrooke Drive area and also in the Wolzhaven-Chestnut area.

Residents in the city's northwest corner went to City Council in early July, after a thunderstorm late June 25 sent water cascading through the Meadowood area, flooding roads and trapping cars on Albion, Creekside and Pebble Brook Lane. 

The water overflowed the storm sewers and gushed into homes. For many, it was a nightmarish flashback to July 2011, when a torrential rainstorm that dumped more than 5 inches of water on the area caused similar home flooding.

Some residents returned to a council meeting in September to see what was being done to help them.

Perciak told the residents the city would renew its focus on the problems, but cautioned that Strongsville doesn't have tens of millions of dollars for a complete sewer system overhaul.

On Monday, Perciak said the creek cleaning and infiltration projects are the first steps.

"We're doing as much as we can as quickly as we can," he said.