CCP 11-25-2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. . . As you know, on Tuesday, October 15th, I attended the City Council meeting. As I indicated to the City Council at that time, I have been a resident of the Karth Lake South Addition for 18 years. My husband I and are the original owners of this property. Prior to purchasing our lot at block 1, lot 9, Karth Lake South, we had soil borings done on our property by Twin City Testing to confirm the integrity of the soil upon which we intended to build. Although Twin City Testing engineers assured us from merefy looking at the property that there were no water issues with our property, we hired them to do formal testing given the fact that there were a number of ponds and Karth Lake within a relatively short distance from our property. Twin City Testing confirmed the integrity of our property as a building site. As indicated above, we built our home 18 years ago, since that time we have not experienced excessive water in our yard, dampness in our walls or any type of odor in our lower level. As stated above, on Friday, October 11, 2002, I noted a problem in my lower level. The problem intensified during the days to follow. As noted to the Council, this problem developed only four days after the pumping of Karth Lake began. On October 15, 2002, I pleaded with the Council to address this issue, explaining that if I incurred any damage or loss related to the pumping, I would have no choice but to hold the City of Arden Hills liable. The Council made a decision to cut the water flow down by one-half of its then current rate. To the best of my knowledge, the decrease in the volume being pumped occurred sometime on October 16, 2002. I was advised at the Council meeting that there would be a "temporary decrease in pumping for a period of six days" to ascertain whether there was a relationship between the pumping and my issues which had a direct correlation in time. During the Council meeting on October 15, the Council made it very clear several different times that the purpose of the pumping was to save a number of older Oak trees belonging to residents around the lake. It was very clear from the representations by Council, specifically, Mr. Probst, that there were no basements being threatened along Karth Lake, but rather was an issue ofresidents' concern about their trees. It was also clear that the Council did not feel that they had an obligation to notify residents of Karth Lake South of the untested ongoing use of the storm sewer system for 13 to 15 million gallons of water. As stated above, it is my understanding the decrease in volume of pumping occurred on October 16,2002. By October 19, 2002, three days after the pumping was decreased, the moisture in my lower level decreased significantly and the intense odor dissipated. What remained was an odor of dampness, which is still something I am not familiar with, but the very stressful issues had diminished. Again, I would logically attribute this change in my situation, to the alteration in the pumping. As you know, this summer is wetter than we have experienced in many years and as a result, we have more moisture in the ground than usual.. In talking with a number of my neighbors, I have learned that nearly everyone in my immediate vicinity runs either one or two dehumidifiers in their lower level on an ongoing basis. There are others who have lower lots who utilize their sump pumps on an ongoing basis. As we all know, the level of evaporation has changed with the -2-