As many of you know, an on-going discussion at the last two HOA meetings has been centered around the HOA hiring a storm drain maintenance company to clean the pipes and storm basins located in nearly every yard in the development. These are the metal grates covering a concrete basin in the ground, located in most folks’ front yards. Because these basins drain the water from everyone’s downspouts into the storm sewer system, they require yearly cleaning of debris that washes or falls into them. Failure to clean them could result in water backing up into your home, yard, crawl space or driveway.
Due to the lack of homeowner interest in having the HOA take over the role as the sole party responsible for their cleaning and repair in the future, and the opposition to the dues increase required to do this, the repair and cleaning now falls to each of you individually. Because the basins and pipes are within the boundaries of everyone’s property, you are also responsible for any repair to them if the pipes should break or clog due to lack of maintenance. Issues where they clog or break between two properties will also have to be worked out between the parties involved, the HOA will assume no role in mediating or resolving these issues.
Although the requirement to clean these basins may be news to many homeowners, this responsibility has always been that of each homeowner per Section 5.27 of the Chestnut Glen CC&R’s, so nothing has changed. What has changed is the procedure to ensure that the cleaning of the basins is actually carried out by each homeowner. To accomplish this, each Street Representative will inspect the basins on their street sometime after October 15th, 2012 to ensure you have cleaned yours. Should you decide to hire someone to clean it, a contractor will charge approximately $200-250.
Obviously you need to know the location of your basin to clean it, therefore you must locate and uncover it, if you have one. If you are unable to locate yours because it has become buried in your yard, you will need to hire a drainage contractor to locate it for you with specialized equipment. There are 5 homes that do not have basins, all of which are located on 23rd Avenue. Some homes on 25th Drive and 211th have their basin in their back yards. To facilitate locating your basin, PDF’s of the Chestnut Glen Storm Drain Plans have been provided in the Docs Library on this website. There are two versions: one for 23rd and 208th, and one for the other three streets. The basins are indicated on the maps by this symbol:
The white dot with a short line attached to it points to the location of the basin on your lot. For most of you the basin is visible and you do not need to locate it. For others, the basin has become covered over time and you will need to dig for it or uncover it. Again, you are solely responsible to locate and uncover it so that you can clean it or have it cleaned by October 15th.
If you have any questions about basin cleaning, please contact your respective Street Representatives:
Kevin Edwards- 208th
Marty Aubol- 23rd Avenue
Steve Hanson- 210th
Hunter Post- 211th & 25th Dr.
