Update: The City of Ann Arbor announced on its Facebook page this afternoon that West Park is now open.

The downpour in early June of this year that brought flooding to Ann Arbor area homes would have been a perfect test case for the new storm water handling improvements under way at West Park. The project is designed to improve the handling of water from a branch of Allen Creek that goes through the park, with above-ground swales to remove silt and pollution from the water and underground structures similarly designed to treat water as it heads toward the Huron River.

Amy Kuras, city park planner, noted in an e-mail exchange that "some of the heavy storm events during the summer delayed the contractor from performing work on site, as well as having to re-grade prior work." Construction had originally been expected to be complete in September, but the park is still marked as closed, and work continues on finishing touches like installation of signs and blacktop for asphalt paths.

The grand opening for West Park is expected to be some time in the spring of 2011, wrote Kuras. Even when the last concrete has been poured, the park will still look unfinished until vegetation grows in what now looks like shallow, stagnant ponds along the south edge of the park. The park will feature native and wetland prairie plantings, and by this time next year, it should look better.

Links

Allen Creek Drain - West Park Storm Water Controls Drain Project is the full name of the project, as noted by the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner Janis Bobrin. The county approved the bond measure for the project, authorizing borrowing not to exceed $3,540,000.00

The Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner was petitioned by the City of Ann Arbor to undertake improvements to the County Drain known as ALLEN CREEK DRAIN WEST PARK STORM WATER CONTROLS DRAIN PROJECT to install storm water controls in West Park," Bobrin wrote. "In conjunction with the City of Ann Arbor’s master planning process for the park, the Water Resources Office assisted in the redesign to take advantage of stormwater management opportunities for the Allen Creek watershed. The result is a plan that updates park infrastructure while improving water quality for West Park and 750 acres upstream. Runoff from the park itself is treated via a series of swales and wetlands, while larger below-ground treatment devices remove trash, oils, sediment, and phosphorus from upstream runoff passing under the West Park - Miller Drain.

The Ann Arbor City Council approved the project on Nov. 16, 2009, allocating project funding of $1,374,082.00 from the Stormwater Fund. The video of the council session includes a discussion by Council member Stephen Kunselman questioning the allocation of a portion of this budget to the city's One Percent for Art program.

A tabulation of the bids for the project shows Site Development Inc. of Madison Heights as the low bidder.

The city's online check register shows a series of payments made to Site Development for its work. The check register is worth a look in more detail, with 161 pages of report showing exactly how the city has spent more than $17.3 million between July 1, 2010, and Oct. 30, 2010. An additional $29.6 million is listed as EFT transactions during that time, but there is no accounting for that spending available on the city's data catalog.

Finally, a 637-page Expense Budget Performance Report shows year-to-date progress against budget goals. I will admit to being incapable of understanding this document at first or second glance; it has a level of byzantine complexity at which I can only marvel.

Where published records end

I wrote this on Thursday (Veterans Day), which is a municipal holiday. Some set of additional questions and clarifications which might have been easier to figure out with a conversation will have to wait until another day, especially the financial details of construction project costs and progress to date that are probably in the budget document.

Edward Vielmetti reads through municipal reports for AnnArbor.com.