Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Drainage topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council authorizes Brookwood Drive drainage work capped at $100,000 after STV presents options
Summary
After hearing that a culvert under Brookwood is undersized, the council directed staff to proceed with drainage improvements but limited the city manager to plans that do not exceed the $100,000 budget; the motion passed by voice vote.
The Woodway City Council authorized staff to move forward with drainage improvements related to the Brookwood Drive drainage study prepared by STV Incorporated, directing the city manager to select a plan that does not exceed the city's $100,000 budget.
STV's representative, who later identified himself as David Mark, described the main finding as an undersized culvert that contributes to repeated flooding in the Brookwood corridor. "The culvert is severely undersized," Mark said, and added engineers had modeled current hydrology and found that larger storms now overwhelm systems designed for older, smaller standards. He said options ranged from a limited driveway-focused fix to larger culvert and inlet work that would reduce flooding frequency for more homes.
City staff presented three options and associated preliminary cost estimates: a lower-cost driveway-focused approach (approximately $68,880), a medium package (about $158,366) and a comprehensive option (about $256,952). Staff noted the city had budgeted $100,000 for study and design and asked the council for direction on whether to proceed and, if so, at what level of scope.
Council members debated trade-offs between a targeted "Band-Aid" fix that helps the affected homeowner and broader work that would benefit more properties. One council member noted that fixing drive approaches could reduce flooding frequency for the affected house but would have limited impact on larger storms. Staff cautioned that some cost estimates did not account for potential easements or condemnation costs if work extended onto private property.
To preserve budget constraints while allowing work to proceed, a council member moved to "authorize improvements for the Brookwood Drive drainage study prepared by STV and authorize the city manager to move forward and select a plan that does not exceed the total budgeted amount of $100,000." The motion was seconded and carried by voice vote; the council did not record individual roll-call tallies in the transcript.
Next steps include staff proceeding to the bid phase for the option selected within the $100,000 limit and returning to council with finalized bids and any changes to scope or required easements.
The council discussed other long-term planning considerations, including how future repaving or broader capital improvement projects could be used to implement more extensive drainage improvements at lower incremental cost.
