Water, Water, and Mill Street Lofts

At the April meeting of the Planning Board, concerns about flooding were the major topic of discussion. What happened at that meeting is recounted in this post: "Return to Mill Street." At the end of that meeting, Chris Bertram, consulting engineer for the Planning Board, told Andy Learn, the engineer for Kearney, "You need to prove to us and prove to me that that amount of water is not going to negatively impact the downstream neighbors on Mill Street."

On May 2, Learn submitted a flood analysis to Theresa Joyner, chair of the Planning Board. The analysis concludes:

The results of this drainage analysis confirm that the existing City owned drainage system is undersized, resulting in overflow on to the subject property. The proposed design attempts to compensate for the lack of capacity in the City drainage system by providing a new conveyance system that exceeds the capacity of the existing drainage system by over 300%.The proposed drainage channel has been designed to match the performance of the existing undeveloped site without further impacting downstream properties. This analysis confirms that the flow rate entering and exiting the site remains unchanged from current (existing) conditions to developed (proposed) conditions. It also confirms that the drainage channel has adequate capacity to safely convey flow from the upstream watershed through the site without impacting the proposed development. The parking lot and buildings will remain safely above the BFE [base flood elevation] as well as the maximum water level in the drainage channel. As described in the SWPPP [Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan], the project will not result in an increase in runoff leaving the site. Finally, given that the analysis shows that the flow rate in the stream before and after construction remains unchanged, the project will not contribute to or worsen existing flooding conditions in the surrounding area.

It appears the flood analysis provides no information that has not already been provided to the Planning Board, so it is not clear if it will be sufficient to convince Bertram that the project will have no negative impact on the downstream neighbors when it comes to flooding.  

The issue of Mill Street Lofts and flooding was taken up this morning on Instagram by Hudson Common Sense. 

What this observer of Hudson has to say about the situation can be found here.

The Planning Board meeting takes place tonight at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall. It will not be a hybrid meeting, but the notice of the meeting provides this information: "The meeting will also be livestreamed on YouTube at Hudson City Zoom Meetings for those who choose to listen but not participate." Click here to access the livestream.

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