Written comments on greenway due tomorrow morning

If you are in a hurry, you can cut, paste, and modify my comments, given below:

Hillcrest/Upland Greenway

Public Information Meeting

November 30, 2009

Comment Sheet

Name:
Address:
City, State, Zip: Madison, WI
Telephone Number:
Email Address:

I prefer: (indicate which one you support)

Option 2 – Replace Sanitary Sewer via open-cut, Rebuild Channel and line with riprap
…but only with certain additions to the plan listed below:

I reside at or own property directly adjacent to the proposed project:

No . But this project affects similar areas by setting precedents and standards.

Comments: I can support Option 2 only if most of the following features are added to the plan, and presented in detail at a final meeting before work begins. I consider the first four to be most important.

1. A series of rock dams and pools along the ravine to slow floodwaters & serve as rain gardens. The top pool should be situated where a pool currently forms, and built in a way so wildlife will have a place to drink. (The dams just W of Valley Creek Circle by Pheasant Branch Conservancy are an example.) The dams will add diversity--good for wildlife and for aesthetics. Riprap lightly between dams if necessary. Volunteers can periodically empty leaves from the basins.
2. Field stones instead of limestone for the riprap.
3. Better landscaping, including planting saplings to replace lost trees. Diversity!
4. Add funds to the greenway budget that could be used to promote rain gardens upstream. It makes no sense to focus on one aspect of storm water control (the channel) without addressing problems in the basin above the channel. What harm is there to budget for rain gardens, and let residents initiate the process? Also, consider the possibility of several small retention basins upstream, such as just below the bridge at the park.
5. Special efforts to safeguard trees at the edge of the construction zone.
6. Good follow-through of the project, including landscaping and cleanup.
7. A contract with penalties for contractor if they cause damage outside the construction zone.
8. Funds for rain barrels and soaker hoses, facilitating plant growth to make the ravine more resistant to erosion and more aesthetic.
9. A strainer at the lower end to catch dead leaves, so the city can periodically remove them.
10. Remediation--restore some of the habitat lost to riprap

Suggestion: Do not overdesign the riprap, as has been done in many places. Instead, work for improvements (rain gardens, basins) upstream, so storm water is reduced in the future.

Mail or deliver to: Lisa Coleman, City of Madison Engineering Division, 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Room 115, Madison, WI  53703.