May 22 Flood Related Issues and Concerns
from City Engineer Schwartzkopf KCSI Online News
From Jamestown City Engineer, Reed Schwartzkopf
The City of Jamestown wants to convey its sincere thanks to all of you that have been pitching in to help conserve water and keep the discharges to the sanitary sewer system to a minimum. Your efforts are showing positive effects!
However, with the continuing stress on our water supply and sanitary sewer systems, coupled with the upcoming holiday weekend, the City is encouraging residents to remain diligent and aware of the serious nature of our current condition and to prepare for the potential of outages in the City’s sanitary and/or water services.
....MORE STORY BELOW VIDEO....
If you have not already done so, please consider having a supply of potable water on hand in air tight containers for drinking, cooking, and personal hygiene. It’s recommended to have a 3 to 5 day supply on hand and to have enough water for one gallon per person per day. Whether purchasing bottled water or bottling you own water utilizing city water and placing it in air tight containers, the water will have a shelf life for six months before it needs to be rotated or replaced.
In addition, continue to adhere to the “odd-or-even” sanitary sewer usage requests the City has made (where odd numbered addresses wash clothes or perform other wastewater producing activities only on odd-numbered days, and vice versa for even numbered addresses on even numbered days); take shorter showers; consider plugging floor drains, toilets and other sanitary sewer connections; etc…
In addition, the City has been receiving several recurring questions:
1) If you experience water infiltration in your basement or see cracks in your basement walls, please call a contractor to examine the problem. Similarly, if you think you are experiencing sewer back-up into your home, call a plumber to look at the issue. If the problem appears to be a serious or imminent danger to your health and safety, the contractor or the plumber will contact the appropriate City personnel for assistance.
2) The City is working with FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to plan for the orderly removal of debris from the dike construction, and for the removal of the dikes themselves. Please give the City the time we need to efficiently plan for and coordinate these activities. In the very near future, the City will be providing more exact information regarding the schedule and procedures for the removal, disposal or possible reclamation of the dikes, sandbags, pallets, tree branches and other items/debris.
3) Even if the dike around your property is “dry”, do not attempt to remove the dike! Although the City has not realized the 4000 cfs discharges the dikes were constructed for, a large, fast moving rain event could threaten your property if the dike is not left intact.
4) It is likely that the temporary clay dikes will not be allowed to remain in place.
5) Please continue to keep your vehicles, children, pets and yourselves off of the dikes.
Above all, understand that this has been and will continue to be an abnormal year for the City of Jamestown. The high water releases from the Pipestem and the Jamestown Dams will remain a serious, on-going problem for the City over the next several weeks. All of us will need to remain diligent in our efforts to minimize the impacts we are causing to our City infrastructure well into the summer.
