WESTFIELD – The owners of the Shaker Farms Country Club are seeking city action to address problems related to city stormwater drainage flooding two areas of the golf course.
Dan and Nancy Kotowitz appeared before the both the Board of Public Works on Tuesday, Oct. 8 to present details of two stormwater problems on the sixth hole and near the course’s pavilion.
Dan Kotowitz said that “a huge amount of runoff” from the stormwater pipe collecting water in the Falley Drive neighborhood is flooding the course near the sixth green.
The sixth hole, a 565-yard uphill dogleg and the hardest hole on the course, lies at the bottom of the Shaker Heights bluff. Kotowitz said the water “is coming down onto our property” from the bluff and requested the Board of Public Works what action the city could take to eliminate that storm related flooding.
DPW Superintendent Jim Mulvenna the department has been aware of the problem and that the city has hired Rob Levesque of Levesque & Associates, to address that problem.
“Rob is working on it,” Mulvenna said. “He’s designing some sort of solution.
Mulvenna said he did not know the timeline for Levesque to complete the design phase or when the construction phase will be implemented.
“It’s hurting our business,” Kotowitz said. “We’re hoping to get it resolved before next season. Now is the perfect time to get the work done.”
Nancy Kotowitz said the other drainage problem is in the area of the pavilion near the country club and is apparently related to drainage improvements made when the section of the Columbia Greenway bicycle trail was constructed two years ago.
Nancy Kotowitz said she had to cancel reserved use of the pavilion due to the drainage issue.
“There’s water in the pavilion, misquotes, so we’ve lost income,” Kotowitz said. “We don’t want that mess when the spring comes. We used to play volleyball in that area, so it wasn’t always wet.”
Mulvenna said that the city would investigate that complaint further to determine what action can be taken to reduce the flooding during storms.
The couple also appeared before the Conservation Commission at the Oct 10th session to seek permission to remove a pipe carrying water under the course.
Conservation Coordinator Karen Leigh that request is consistent with the Conservation Commission’s goal to return that area, in the area of the sixth green, to its natural condition.
Leigh said that the pipe is causing flooding, apparently because a section collapsed, when water seeps up through the soil.
“They want to create a natural stream channel to eliminate that flooding,” Leigh said, “something that the commission supports.”
Leigh said the course owners “may also have to apply to the Army Corps of Engineers for additional permits which could take some time.”
