2004 - Homeowner's Assoc. drainage concern

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w1\e Oat\ Circ\e Qr'IE aW Y\E rr A s S OC Lot ion March 18, 2004 rCA\n U c C1 GY}C r h Richard and Joan Kling 2780 White Oak Circle Orono, MN 55356 Mr. Gregory A. Gappa P.E. Director of Public Services City of Orono PO Box 66 Crystal Bay, MN 55323 Dear Mr. Gappa: To follow up on a conversation we had in early March, relative to the drainage situation concerning mine and my neighbors' properties, We are hereby documenting the situation. When the original platting for our development was done in the 1976-77 timeframe(RLS #1447), there was apparently no official consideration given to the existing drainage ditch system,which had been installed by the previous(fanner)owner to drain the area to make it tillable as farmland. This drainage system was/is critical to maintain the integrity of use of the land as it appeared when all of the present and former lot owners purchased their properties. It affects the integrity of at least five properties—2735, 2775, 2780,2785, and 2790. My concern is this: The property at 2775 White Oak Circle is the focal point for the drainage system getting the water out of the area. The ditches come together on this property, and must be maintained itfi ''der for our adjacent properties to stay dry and fully useable. This has not been a problem to date because the owner of 2775 was an original purchaser, and has always been relatively sympathetic to the problem, spending dollars along with the rest of us when necessary to help correct any drainage problems when they have begun to cause problems. Mr Marier(2775)unfortunately passed away from a brain tumor last fall. His property was left to a family member, who sold it to a home improvement company. They are presently fixing up the property, undoubtedly under building permits from the City of Orono, and it promises to be a very desirable property in our neighborhood. Our concern is that the new owner be aware of the criticality of their relationship to the drainage situation of our other properties, so that we can depend on their cooperation when and if drainage problems occur as they have in the past. Just this past summer,before Mr. Marler passed away, he cooperated in getting the drainage ditch from our 2780 property to his 2775 property repaired and re-routed from under his foundation footings,where it had been damaged when his house was built, and apparently improperly repaired, thus causing intermittent problems over the years since(although never to his basement—he stated that he had never had water problems in his basement). The repairs and re-routing of the ditch this past summer will probably take care of the situation, for some time but we can not be sure of that, and there is also the issue of the other ditch run from 2785 onto 2775, which may also require additional repair in the future.