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Peden says water coming from city property
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · October 16, 2014


Changes to city-owned and state-owned property caused increased flooding and increased salt content in the soil around Dave’s Welding & Repair, owner Dave Peden told the City Council last week.


And he thinks it will cost at least $100,000 to remove the salt pollution in his soil.

City Engineer Dave Schechinger of Veenstra and Kimm said installing piping could draw water off Peden’s property, but the only downhill outlet would take the water to other privately owned land.

“And that doesn’t deal with the contaminated soils,” he said.

Peden’s property, at 348 Cookson, sits downhill of the city’s maintenance shed and backs up to Interstate 80. Peden said moving dirt and other work by the Iowa Department of Transportation along I-80 and moving dirt on the city maintenance parcel redirected the flow of water. The I-80 work, he said, fed more water to the former Cookson property, which Lynch’s Excavation is turning into homes, which then goes onto city property and works its way to his business.

Peden said the city also made changes to the water flow, though he does not know if it was intentional, which increased the amount of water running toward his land.

He also had a company test the soil on his lot and that it revealed a significant amount of salt content — the kind of salt spread on icy roads — as much as 300 times what is expected.

“I can’t put steel out there,” Peden said. “It would disappear.”

He said he could develop the lot if it did not flood, but now water is “boiling up” through the drains inside his shop.

“I’m getting all the water,” he said, calling those other property owners “bad neighbors.”

Mayor Mark Worrell said the city is aware of flooding in that area.

“We’ve been fighting it since 1996,” he said. “It needs to be addressed.”

The flooding did not all happen at once, Peden said. As he noticed it increasing over time, he built berms on the property to hold it back.

“But my little dam now won’t stop it,” he said. “We had five inches (of water) around the back door (in the last heavy rain). We’ve never had that much before. Something’s got to be done.”

Schechinger, reviewing a soil study commissioned by the city, agreed that what was found on Peden’s property was consistent with road salt.

“I’m not going to be planting flowers there,” Peden said.

“They sure won’t grow very well,” Schechinger agreed.