A Peachtree City couple is suing the city in federal court, hoping to force the city to remove the dam to what is, in effect, a stormwater detention pond.
John and Lee Mrosek own part of the property that the Bradford Estates pond is located on, but they contend that the city has accepted an easement for the facility “and is responsible for all maintenance.”
The couple is accusing the city of violating Clean Water Act standards, which is why the suit is in federal court. The Mroseks want the city to fully clean up the stream and pond and also remove the dam.
In the suit, the Mroseks contend that the pond property is also partially owned by Southside Church and several other families, with each owner’s deed subjected to a “stormwater maintenance easement in favor of the city.”
After learning of problems with the pond and its dam, the plaintiffs complained to the city in August 2010, but according to the lawsuit, the city has inspected the site but taken no efforts to cure any deficiencies, despite an engineer’s evaluation that the dam could be breached in a 25-year peak flood event.
According to the suit, the volume of stormwater going through the stream and into the pond increased significantly when the city and Fayette County cooperated on a project to widen Robinson Road in 1995, following the Mroseks moving into their home on Bradford Point in December 1994.
Prior to the widening, Robinson Road had open grass swales which allowed much of the stormwater in a given rainfall to filter through the ground, according to the lawsuit. But after the project was complete, stormwater pipe some four feet wide diverts much of the water along Mrosek’s property, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that the city redacted a portion of handwritten notes sought under an open records request about engineering reports on the pond “apparently … to conceal the findings of the pond inspection from Mrosek.”
The city responded to that February 2011 open records request by saying that it “had not received a ‘formal report’ on an inspection that occurred sometime after Oct. 27, 2010.
The Mroseks contend in the suit that the best solution to the problem is to eliminate the dam and restore the pond area to its pre-construction state. In fact, the lawsuit notes that it could cost $50,000 to $100,000 to remove the pond in lieu of a significant amount more to keep it intact.
Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges that the city plans to abandon the expense of stormwater maintenance associated with the pond by transferring those responsibilities to the private owners of the pond, including the church. The lawsuit cited an “apparent statement” to that conclusion that was allegedly spoken by current city Councilman Eric Imker.
The suit contends that the pond and the stream leading into it have not had any maintenance performed since 1997, but it did perform work on the pond on two occasions at the request of former Mayor Bob Lenox, which means the city accepted the easement and stormwater maintenance responsibility.
The city also has been charging a stormwater maintenance fee to the homeowners in the Bradford Estates subdivision where the pond is located, according to the lawsuit.
In addition to seeking removal of the dam and a forced cleanup of the pond and stream, the Mroseks want the court to award damages and also penalize the city “as a serial violator” of the federal Clean Water Act.
John Mrosek, an attorney whose office is in Fayetteville, is representing himself and his wife in the litigation.
