GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Green Bay city leaders are trying to prevent disastrous flooding like the east side saw just three weeks ago.
Heavy downpours dropped inches of water in just a few hours, flooding roads and basements.
Green Bay’s east side saw the worst of last month’s heavy rain, but aldermen from both sides of the city say street flooding issues need to be at the highest priority.
“I mean what am I supposed to tell the people in my district when they’ve got flooding?” questioned Alderman Brian Johnson.
Main Street, near the intersection with Mason Street, had high water twice in a three-week period.
Alderman Andy Nicholson tells FOX 11 he’s asked the city to address the area numerous times in the past.
“It’s very frustrating, even though we had the money or some of the money for infrastructure to help with this situation from our Packer stadium tax and basically the city council just threw it away like drunken sailors.”
With that money spent on debt repayment, property tax relief, and economic development, members of the Improvement and Services committee questioned Tuesday night where money could come from to address the flooding.
“There is only so much that we can do,” said Steve Grenier, the Director of Public Works for Green Bay. “I mean these were very extraordinary events.”
Grenier tells FOX 11 the city’s sewer system is built to handle 10-year storm events. He says the mid-September rainfall was a 1,000-year storm.
“Many municipalities are designed as a 10-year storm event. That is an accepted standard of care.”
Upgrading hundreds of miles of pipes would be costly. Grenier says the city has already been considering other options like drainage basin improvements and lift station additions.
“These types of projects are things we are already doing, but again, bear in mind, these are not magic bullets.”
While Grenier says there isn’t a clear fix, his department is putting together a report to show what work has already been done, what is in the works, and what still needs to be addressed.
