Although the September 2019 floods caused severe damage to Mitchell, it is helping city leaders prioritize drainage infrastructure projects in flood-prone areas.

Communities in the lake region-relying on septic tanks and a lifting station for rainwater discharge-will benefit from a $2.8 million project that will replace the Dailey Drive lifting station built in 1997, which is used by residents Most residents of the northwest corner provide services to the lake. Homeowners in this area are experiencing the problem of flooded basements because the elevator station has reached its capacity limit. This situation will only get worse when the historic rainfall declines in 2019, when rainfall reached 7 to 8 in 48 hours. inch.

Although the low-lying areas along South Kimball Street and Dongpu Raspberry Avenue have been severely affected by heavy rainfall events and are being resolved through the city’s priority East Central Drainage Project, the residential area at the other end of the city is receiving their help . Attention share.

Joe Schroeder, director of public works at Mitchell, said: "When there is a heavy rain event, the new location and increased capacity of the elevator station should give these residents and the city peace of mind."

The scope of the Dailey Drive elevator station project required the replacement of the existing elevator station at the corner of Dailey Drive and 407th Avenue with a new elevator station across the street from North Harmon Drive. Schroder stated that the project has been completed about 40% and is expected to be completed in 2022. He pointed out that the existing lifting station will be transformed into a manhole for staff to maintain when needed.

The lifting station has pumps to transport rainwater and waste water, which flows into a water tank and then is pumped to the sewers throughout the city. As the elevator station of the entire urban era, Schroeder's improvements are essential to improve drainage and minimize the impact of flooding.

According to Terry Aker, a civil engineer at SPN and Associates, the typical life expectancy of elevator stations in the city is about 30 years, and several of Mitchell are over 50 years old. Of Mitchell’s 14 lifting stations, Aker said that in the sewer system assessment report he submitted to the city council about two years ago, at least 12 needed some improvement. At that time, the cost of upgrading all 12 lifting stations to handle more water capacity was estimated at 7 million U.S. dollars, including the lifting station at Dailey Drive.

Near the Dailey Drive elevator station project is another area that will undergo infrastructure upgrades in 2022, and the city will carry out the Livesay utility improvement project in this area. This will require the provision of rainwater drains for future residents in areas along Michael Avenue to connect rather than rely on septic tanks and newly paved streets. Residents living along Anthony Avenue, one block south of New Michael Avenue, will rely on septic tanks for rainwater discharge after a special assessment was recently cancelled.

"The reason for this project is that there is no sewer on Anthony Avenue, and we have received complaints about the accumulation of water in the ditches," Schroeder said, noting that the project will also introduce culverts to improve the drainage system. "We are providing rainwater drainage systems for future development projects in the north so that we don't have the same problems. We are talking about connection fees so that the city government can recoup some of our costs."

Septic tanks are usually built underground and only serve residents' homes. Because the sewage treatment capacity of septic tanks is lower than that of urban sewers, households that rely on septic tanks are more likely to be flooded than households connected to sewers.

"This is a huge benefit for homeowners because they don't have to worry about flooding their septic tanks and sewage in their yards. Connecting to urban sewers is a victory for everyone," he said.

Residents living along Anthony Avenue will soon have a paved road to replace the existing gravel road, which is another step to improve drainage. Schroeder said the Anthony Avenue will be paved after the completion of the utility project, which is expected to be completed in about a year.

Schroeder said that another key issue that needs to be solved to improve the urban drainage system is to replace nearly a century-old pipes. A local engineering company presented the results of the sewer system assessment, showing the corrosion of Mitchell’s old water supply and sewer pipes, which city leaders have used to hone areas that need to be replaced urgently.

"This is an important factor in improving our public utility infrastructure. Reducing clay pipes can reduce the penetration of rainwater events on us," Schroeder said. "Now, we are trying to solve the problem of 4-inch cast iron water pipes to help improve water volume and pressure in areas with very old pipes."

According to Aker, approximately 60% of the city's approximately 500,000 feet of sewer mains are made of clay pipes. According to Aker, it would cost approximately US$61 million to replace the 300,000-foot clay pipe.

Considering that the city’s proposed expenditure of $75.5 million in the 2022 budget is an increase of $10 million compared to 2021, which is mainly driven by major infrastructure projects, City Council Chairman Kevin McCadre stated that these projects " It's worth the investment."

"If we don't repair the old infrastructure we have now, it will cost more in the future and cause more problems. We have miles of pipelines that are 100 years old," McCadler said. "We are focused on developing Mitchell, but if your infrastructure can't meet the current population needs, you can't develop."

Schroeder said that some of the cast iron water pipes that the city plans to replace date back to the early 1900s. They will be replaced by modern plastic pipes.

In the 2022 budget, the city proposed to improve part of East 10th Avenue from North Lawler to North Langdon Street by replacing cast iron water pipes and vitrified clay sewers. The $955,000 project would also need to extend the street by approximately 10 feet.

"We are replacing the 4-inch cast iron water pipes with 6-inch ceramic clay pipes. We have broken water pipes in this area," Schroeder said, noting that the street will extend to 41 feet wide. "It will also bring new roadsides and sidewalks, so this is a good project."