Resident raises drainage, grading concerns after levee work at Crystal Creek; city pledges monitoring

Anita Duis, a Moorhead resident of the Crystal Creek subdivision, told the council on July 14 that levee construction last year left standing water and a clay swale behind her property and that the seeding and grading have not produced viable grass.

Duis said a pile of black dirt placed five years earlier was not used, drainage piping was installed behind her backyard and the contractor scraped soil from an area she previously used, leaving a clay channel that she said will not grow grass. She presented more than 50 photos to council showing standing water and elevation differences and asked the city to fix the grading.

Mayor Shelley Carlson and staff responded that city engineering had authorized an increase in the grade of the swale behind her property from two to four inches and an increase in slope from 0.5 to 0.7 to improve drainage. City staff said the area that was graded in late May was seeded at a suboptimal time and the contractor's work will be monitored; the contract will be held open until fall and reseeding will be done in spring if necessary. Staff estimated that a full regrade of the city-owned area behind her property would cost about $10,000 but said no further addition of dirt or major regrading would be done at this time because the levee work is part of the overall flood diversion project.

City staff said all photos provided by Duis were shared with council and that they would continue to monitor the grass growth and the seeded area; if seeding fails the contractor will reseed next spring. Duis asked the city to take additional corrective action to prevent water standing behind her yard.

The council did not take a formal vote on corrective work but instructed staff to monitor the site and follow the contract provision for reseeding and potential additional corrective work in the spring if the initial seeding fails.