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Home My WebLink About1998-09-04 NAC Ltr to Krongard Re Storm Water Issues ..... ,_.., ,. N NORTHWEST ASSOCIAI ED CONSULTANTS INC COMMUNITY PLANNING - DESIGN - MARKET RESEARCH kt b 4 September 1998 COpy Mr. Jack Krongard Krongard Construction Company 14791 60th Street North Suite 2 Oak Park Heights, MN 55082 RE: Oak Park Heights - Valley View Estates: Storm Water Issues FILE NO: 798.02 - 98.05 Dear Jack: City staff including Tom Melena, Mark Vierling, Karen Shimon, Jay Johnson, Jim Butler and myself met at Valley View Condominiums on Wednesday, 2 September to review the issues raised by James Meyer and Donna Gray in a letter dated 28 August regarding the retaining wall and storm water issues (see attached). We would offer the following in regards to these issues: 1. Church Drainage. Historically, the church parking lot has drained to the east onto the property now developed as Valley View Condominiums. The concern is how the spillway is directing water onto the private street and into the storm water drainage system. To correct this issue, it may be necessary to construct an underground storm water system to take that water in a more direct fashion to the holding ponds. 2. Unit 3D and 4D Drainage. It appears as though water from the side lot and from the property to the north is ponding directly adjacent to Units 3D and 4D of the Valley View Condominiums. This may eventually cause damage to the foundation and slab. Measures will need to be taken to channel water away from these units. 5775 WAYZATA BOULEVARD, SUITE 555 ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA 554 1 6 PHONE 612 - 595 - 9636 FAX 612 - 595 - 9837 E-MAIL NAC@WINTERNET.COM Mr. Jack Krongard Page Two 3. Retaining Wall. The plans presented to the City by you during the approval process indicate a four foot retaining wall between the condominiums and the church property. The wall is not constructed according to the plans that were presented. Based upon the City Engineer's review of this issue, you may be required to add additional height to this retaining wall. The purpose of this letter is not to propose any solutions to the concerns listed here but to inform you of the issues and to ask you to work with City staff for their resolution. Additionally, City staff feels that these issues are significant enough to hold on any request for a building permit for the second eight-plex as part of the Valley View Condominium project. Please call me or Jim Butler so that we can set up a meeting with City staff to address a resolution to these outstanding issues. Sincerely, NORTHWEST ASSOCIATED CONSULTANTS, INC. Scott D. Richards, AIC Senior Planner pc: Tom Melena Jim Butler Mark Vierling Jay Johnson Karen Shimon A! , E EC: A ''l= 3 H998 VALLEY VIEW CONDOMINIUMS NORTH ASSO I I ION % DONNA S. GRAY 14812 58TH STREET NORTH #3D OAK PARK HEIGHTS MN 55082-6396 TEL: 651-430-0822 August 28, 1998 Thomas M. Melena Administrator City of Oak Park Heights 14168 North 57th Street Oak Park Heights MN 55082-2007 Dear Mr. Melena: We are currently working with Jim Butler to resolve some issues between the City of Oak Park Heights, Jack Krongard and our Association. Jim Butler has been very helpful in resolving some of these issues with Jack Krongard. There are a few that remain unresolved that are of great concern to the homeowners of Valley View Condominiums North Association. We are asking the City's assistance to resolve these issues in a timely fashion. The first issue is the drainage problem coming from the Assembly of God Church into our development. The Church is located immediately to the West of our development. Jim Butler indicated he was going to meet with the City Engineer to look into this matter. He also indicated that the Church has limited funds to make any changes in the current situation. We would like to see a copy of the grading plan that the City of Oak Park Heights approved per the Developer's Agreement with Jack Krongard. All the water from the Church parking lot flows down a spillway into our private street and therefore we often have standing water. The only drains on our property are located just north of the entrance and these drain into holding ponds, which are maintained by our association. According to Jim Butler in his letter dated August 19, 1998 to Jack Krongard the water that comes down from the grass area to the North of the church should be corrected to prevent water filling the cores of the blocks on Units 3D and 4D. Should this occur, damages to the foundation and slab are very possible and would be a costly repair. The address for these units is 14812 58`h Street North. If our current drainage system doesn't meet the grading plan as approved by the City we expect the City will work with Jack Krongard, at either Jack Krongard or the City's expense, to make the necessary repairs. The second issue is the retaining wall located between our property and the Church. When Jack Krongard built the wall there was a gap on the North side of the spillway. This gap caused erosion of the embankment and a constant flow of rocks, sand and debris into our street. This created additional maintenance to the Association to return the rocks to the embankment after each heavy rainfall. This problem was brought up to Jack Krongard last January 1998, following turnover of the board to the homeowners. At that time, he actually inspected the problem and agreed to pay for '/2 the cost of additional blocks to extend the wall up the North side of the spillway. He would not agree to pay any labor to install the blocks. Because of the problems the Association hired Northwestern Masonry to complete the wall at a cost of$835.00. The cost of the blocks was $ 219.65 bringing the total cost to the homeowners of our Association to $1,127.65, of which Jack Krongard reimbursed $146.32. We requested Jim Butler to do research into the Landscaping Plan approved by the City for this development. Jim Butler indicated that Jack Krongard proposed a four-foot retaining wall but that there was no record of the City's acceptance of this plan. The current wall as it stands today is not four feet high. Jim Butler agreed to address the height concerns with Jack Krongard but that still leaves our homeowners bearing the expense to alleviate the erosion problem on the North Side of the spillway. We expect full reimbursement from the City or Jack Krongard for this expense. There are numerous other repairs that need to be addressed by Jack Krongard—far too many to list. These items are things that were never completed upon homeowner possession of the property. We are attaching copies of two memos written to Krongard addressing some of these repairs. One is dated February 24, 1998 and the other August 12, 1998. Our Association funds are for maintenance only and not to correct problems that have arisen from negligence on the part of the City or the builder. We are looking to the City of Oak Park Heights to resolve these issues between it and Jack Krongard. We trust that you will take care of these issues in a timely fashion. If you need further information or would like to discuss these issues please contact Linda Carufel at 430-5914. Linda is now Chairman of the committee to resolve these issues. She was the first homeowner in the development and has been involved with the Association from the beginning. We trust you, Jim Butler, and the City of Oak Park Heights will stand firm on the position stated in Jim Butler's letter of July 30, 1998 to Jack Krongard and not issue permits of any kind or do inspections requested for the 8-unit complex presently under construction until issues are resolved to the satisfaction of all parties concerned. Sincerely yours, James R. Meyer,President Valley View Condominiums North Association Donna S. Gray, Treasurer Valley View Condominiums North Association Attachments 2: Memo to Jack Krongard dated February 24, 1998 Memo to Jack Krongard dated August 12, 1998 Cc: Mayor and Council Jim Butler,Building Official Jay Johnson, Public Works Director Scott Richards,City Planner 4 Joe Anderlik, City Engineer Mark Vierling, City Attorney Melanie Mesko Linda Carufel