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Mount Clemens officials outline phased plan as residents press for solutions to repeated basement flooding
Summary
Residents from Lafayette Street and other neighborhoods urged the Mount Clemens City Commission to act after repeated basement flooding; City Manager Shipman said engineers will study citywide sewer separation, restricted storm-sewer covers were tested, and officials estimate a multi-million-dollar, phased effort is needed.
Residents told the Mount Clemens City Commission on July 21 that recurring basement flooding on Lafayette Street and nearby blocks has imposed heavy costs and disrupted daily life.
"My neighbor had water in her basement," Shelby Holderbaum, 53 Lafayette, said during public comment, pressing the city for details about prior analyses and asking what additional steps will be taken for her street. Dorothy Kamalski, 52 Lafayette, said a resident (Sue Frasier) phoned city offices after waking up to sewer water in her basement and urged city staff to track those calls.
City Manager Greg Shipman said engineers will prepare a citywide phased plan to evaluate separating combined sewers and to estimate associated costs. "We have $200,000,000 worth of repairs that, you know, we wanna do on our water and sewer," Shipman said, adding that the city is testing "restricted cover plates" on storm sewers as a near-term mitigation and tracking complaints to identify problem areas.
Shipman described technical and cost hurdles to full separation, including the need to construct new mains to carry separated flows to the river and potential sites for detention ponds such as Dorothea Park or the water‑tower site. "It's extremely expensive and it's hard to do," he said, and warned that engineering the larger solutions could take six months to a year. He added that if restrictive covers do not work in an area, crews will consider installing more restrictive plates or moving further up the line.
Commissioners acknowledged the scale of the problem and urged residents to report flooding so the city can verify and log incidents. Commissioner Fournier said commissioners "care about it" and called the work a priority; Commissioner McGarity pointed residents to a local plumbing assistance resource and apologized for any missed meetings where the issue was previously discussed.
The commission scheduled a presentation on basement flooding prevention and city liabilities for July 28 at 6 p.m. at the Karnes Community Center, intended to provide technical context and homeowner guidance.
What happens next: city engineers will complete the proposed citywide study and present phased cost estimates; restricted covers remain a near-term mitigation in targeted locations, and the commission will consider funding options and potential grant pursuit once costs are clearer.
