Heather's article in the Daily Journal: (with photo)- Measure H will address flood issues
Sandbags have lined Easton Creek in Burlingame for three years since the water passageway is overwhelmed by rainfall annually. Safer city buildings and less flooding in the future are the goals Burlingame official hope to accomplish with Measure H the $44 million bond measure on the November ballot. The council unanimously approved the bond measure, Measure H, which will focus $37 million to flood control and $7 million to health and safety upgrades needed in city buildings in June. If approved, the planned projects will only take a chunk out of the $110 million laundry list of capital improvement updates needed in the city. Nobody thinks about this stuff until it starts raining. Like last year, everyone was talking about [the flooding],? said Public Works Director George Bagdon.
The bulk of the money will go to various storm drain improvements. The city-wide storm drain system includes five major watershed areas: Easton, Burlingame and Ralston, Sanchez and Terrace, El Portal and Trousdale and Mills. The watershed areas are old, not reinforced and flood frequently. Sandbags have lined the Easton Creek area for nearly three years, said Senior Engineer Doug Bell. Some business owners have taken it upon themselves to build a small wooden fence atop the dirt slopes to prevent floods near Mills Creek. Most water pumps have a 20-year work life. The pumps at the Marsten Pump Station have lasted 50 years, said Bell. The Easton Creek runs past the Marsten Pump Station. The old pumps can be easily overwhelmed causing water to be pushed over the dirt wall lined with sandbags and into the Easton Creek. The creeks are often overwhelmed with water coming from the city toward the bay and bay water traveling down the creeks, said Bagdon. Increasing development added to the problems. The more houses, libraries and buildings built the less natural ground to absorb some of the rain water, said Bagdon. This puts more pressure on the various creeks. Only one of these waterways is lined with cement, the others retain a naturally lined with dirt and plants. These waterways can maintain during the beginning of the rainy seasons but can become less firm as water begins to saturate the area, said Bagdon. The remainder of the funds would be used for seismic, safety and disability access at the police and fire stations, city hall and the recreation center. The recreation center will receive multiple updates such as reinforcement to the walls and ceilings, updates to the heating and ventilation systems and a new location for the wiring system. Temperature control in the large room, which houses a stage, can be a problem. One system is used for the entire room which can take hours to heat up or cool down, said Recreation Supervisor Lynn Mutto. It can be especially tough when performers want cool air and the audience is freezing, she said. The boiler was built in the '30s making finding replacement parts a chore. It's so antique you could sell this thing on Ebay,? said Syed Murtuza, assistant director of public works. To pay for all the changes the city hopes to charge a property tax of $31.97 per $100,000 of the assessed value of the property, said Sean Powers, representative from Government Financial Strategies Inc. This would cause the homeowner of a $300,000 home to pay $95.91, the owner of a $700,000 home $223.79 and the owner of a $1 million home $319.70 per year. If the city were to do a flat parcel tax of $150 per year instead the city would only raise $17.6 million. The revenues would drop to $12 million if the city gave a senior exemption.
For more information visit http://www.burlingamepublicsafety.org.
– Written by Fiona
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