A North Shore homeowner will have to wait until spring to have a drainage problem fixed.
Back in December, Keith Campbell approached the Lake Orion Village Council and said water from storms were running on to his property, going down his front steps and towards his house.
Campbell felt the problem was a result of reconstructing the North Shore bridge which is near his house.
John Kangas, the Orchard, Hiltz and McCliment engineer in charge of the bridge project, admitted to council members on Jan. 12 an area of asphalt near Campbell’s property was higher than it had been.
He recommended milling one inch to one and a half inch of the asphalt which would divert stormwater to a nearby catch basin.
According to Kangas, an earlier attempt last fall to fix the problem evidently didn’t work. But he doesn’t believe any damage was caused by the bridge contractor.
Lake Orion Village Manager JoAnn Van Tassel said a final walk through took place after bridge construction was finished. ‘We used a hose and ran water down the road and used pink spray paint to mark the trouble spots,? she added. ‘But Campbell also spray painted the road and that caused confusion.?
Although photos in the area were taken before the bridge project started last summer, none of them focused on the Campbell driveway. And Kangas said a video taken can’t verify that damage was caused by the bridge project.
Council member Harry Stephen said he had met with Campbell’s wife last November about the problem.
‘We talked about a solution that included milling and adding a speed bump (to divert the water). She said OK,? Stephen added.
‘I approached JoAnn,, but it was too late in the season to do anything.?
Campbell argued that milling and a speed bump wouldn’t help the situation.
He claimed a section of asphalt that was added during the road resurfacing project in 1998-99 helped keep the water off of his property.
‘Three feet (of that) was destroyed by the contractor you hired,? Campbell told Kangas. Campbell believes that needs to be repaired.
Kangas said a temporary cold patch could be applied in that area until the milling could be done in the spring.
‘I’ll contact an asphalt company now to be first on its list for the spring,? he added.
‘This needs to be corrected,? councilman Douglas Dendel said. ‘People are coming in here angry. Get it done and do it right.?