Residents upset about catch basins dug in front of south Modesto homes

Parklawn residents are happy about the new sewer lines and repaved streets after years of fighting for modern services for the Modesto neighborhood, which is south of East Hatch Road.

Some folks are angry, however, about a storm drainage solution, which seems to have been a little-known piece of Stanislaus County’s $3 million construction project to improve the unincorporated island.

Starting a month ago, crews working on the main streets in Parklawn carved swales in front of homes for holding rainwater. When the work is completed, each home in Parklawn will have its own catch basin next to the street.

The swales, about 12 feet long and 6 feet wide, are not a welcome addition for residents such as Dennis Casey. The longtime resident said he no longer can park his truck and trailer in front of his house and is paying $92 a month to store the vehicles.

Casey now has to wheel his disabled father across a plywood board to the street to put him in the car, he said. “We got no letter from the county about what they are doing to this area,” Casey said. “I have this big puddle in front of the house. We never had a (flooding) problem on this street.”

Casey said the dirt basins are a low-cost attempt at building a drainage system for Parklawn.

The neighborhood’s postal carrier no longer can drive up to each mailbox, so he has to park and walk alongside the muddy basins to deliver the mail. “You have to be careful,” mail carrier Robert Galvan said Monday.

Casey cited a couple of examples of homeowners walking across boards or along the sloping sides of the basins to reach their mailboxes. He said he intends to talk with officials about the swales being an obstacle to firefighting response.

George “Bud” Easley complained in a Bee letter to the editor last week about the “muddy mess” left in front of homes in Parklawn, also known as Olympic Tract. The retiree walks across two boards to reach his mailbox.

Easley and Casey maintain that local government officials authorized a lot of catch basins to fix a drainage issue that was exaggerated. “We had no problem before,” Easley said.

Casey and others plan to bring their complaints to the Board of Supervisors at an upcoming meeting.

County Public Works Director Matt Machado said an existing drainage basin and storm pump failed to adequately drain the 326-home neighborhood in the past, resulting in flooded streets.

Each swale is intended to hold its own runoff so the water doesn’t run down the streets and flood intersections. Machado said the new system worked well during the massive storm last week that dropped almost 3 inches of rain on Modesto in a day.

“None of the streets were flooded,” the director said. “Many residents are upset because now they have a swale full of water.”

Machado said the catch basins for Parklawn have been discussed for some time but were added to the wastewater project after a grant request for sidewalks was not successful. The county presented aspects of the project at neighborhood meetings in south Modesto in January, April and May.

The improvements still need finishing touches, including rock street shoulders and material for the sides of the catch basins. Space will be left for sidewalks next to property lines.

Machado said Casey’s property is on higher ground and never had drainage problems. Public Works has offered to put base rock, free of charge, at the end of his driveway for better access for his father, but Casey has declined.

The county is willing to address other issues for individual homeowners, Machado added.

“It started raining and we have not been able to finish the job,” said county board Chairman Jim DeMartini, whose district includes Parklawn. He said some catch basins possibly were dug too deep by the contractor and may need to be fixed. Some are about 2 feet deep, exceeding the specifications by a foot, he said.

“The (swales) are doing what they are supposed to do,” DeMartini said, noting that recent storms flooded crossroads on streets that don’t have the basins.

Public Works wants to propose a combination of sidewalks and swales for Empire, Machado revealed. If a community development grant is secured for that project, people in Empire would be asked to help pay for the improvements through an assessment district.

Casey said it’s OK with him if Empire residents want to pay for catch basins. But he does not want to see any more dug in his neighborhood and believes those that were built are a liability for the county. “Fill them in,” he said.

This story was originally published December 15, 2014 at 7:32 PM with the headline "Residents upset about catch basins dug in front of south Modesto homes."