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Chesterton resident tells Porter board repeated flooding has damaged his property; town vows investigation
Summary
At a Porter Town Board meeting, Chesterton resident Spencer Smith said three years of flooding left his basement and yard inundated and urged the town to fix a blocked drain. Town staff said they will jet and camera the drain, investigate for tile repair, and report back before the next meeting.
At a meeting of the Porter Town Board, resident Spencer Smith told the board he has endured repeated flooding at his home for three years and asked the town to fix drainage that continues to damage his property. “I had 6 in of water in my basement. There was a foot of water in my front yard,” Smith said.
Smith said he pays the town stormwater drainage fee but that the problem persists. He described lost crops after standing water sat on his newly planted orchard for three days and noted that nearby subdivisions with municipal drains do not experience the same flooding. “I have the most property damage and the most water in that area,” he said.
Board members and staff responded that they would investigate. Mark, a board member who spoke during the exchange, said the town would send the street department and use a vactor/jetter truck to clear any blockage and possibly run a camera in the tile if needed. “They’ll run the jetter hose through it and make sure…if it hits a blockage, it’ll stop and we’ll have to keep jetting it to bust through it,” the board member said.
Staff said they had seen positive drainage in the immediate aftermath of the storm but have not yet located a blockage; they said the street department planned to clean the drain tile and would report back to the board and keep Smith informed. The exchange also noted prior work: a board member recalled a 2015 county-assisted project that installed drains in the area, which may be connected to the current system.
Smith identified a town employee, Dave Wozniak of the building department, as someone he has contacted about the issue. Town staff said they would coordinate among the building department and the street department to determine whether a simple cleaning, tile repair, or a larger fix is required.
The board and staff told Smith they expected to have either a resolution or a description of needed repairs before the next meeting.
