Parma City Council approves Ridgewood Lake Park retention basin

PARMA, Ohio — Heavy rains leading to flooded basements, back yards and roads have forced Parma leaders to look for different stormwater solutions.

That effort took a major step forward Tuesday (Feb. 22) when City Council unanimously approved an easement allowing the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s (NEORSD) proposed Upper Ridgewood Basin, which at a cost of $3.4 million will transform Ridgewood Lake Park into a green retention basin with vegetation and scenic trails.

“We believe the project will enhance the park and keep water out of people’s basements,” Mayor Tim DeGeeter said.

“Understanding the folks who live around the park and look at the basin, it’ll be different, but there’s a greater goal out here. That’s to keep everybody’s property values up and keep water out of their basements.”

The easement was originally expected to be voted on two months ago. However, resident concerns — led by the Save Ridgewood Lakes Committee, which includes 22 homeowners around Ridgewood Lake Park — prompted City Council to pause the vote in order to fully vet the project.

The group raised concerns ranging from a decrease in real estate value to the loss of a beautiful water feature.

Committee co-secretary Nicci Panza, who has lived across from Ridgewood Lake Park on Roycroft Drive for 15 years, was unhappy with council’s decision.

“I’m very disappointed in the outcome,” Panza said. “Our committee will be seeking legal counsel and filing a petition for a (ballot) referendum for the final concept design.”

The resident said there was a second option that would have resulted in a deeper retention basin with a healthy fishing habitat.

“The difference is about five-acre square footage — that’s how close we are to a compromise,” Panza said. “It’s more money, more time and they don’t want to spend it, but it would make both parties happy.”

Parma Law Director Tim Dobeck said a ballot referendum requires signatures equal to 10 percent of votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. That equates to 2,862 signatures dating back to 2018, when 28,624 residents voted.

“I can’t speak to (a ballot initiative), but we know a lot of people out there have issues,” DeGeeter said. “We’ve got a number of projects that are coming. In fact, Veterans Park is getting engineer work this year and construction will start next year. That project will be similar to what was designed and proposed here at Ridgewood Park.”

The Save Ridgewood Lakes Committee also has another issue related to the NEORSD Ridgewood Lake Park retention basin.

“The whole process was handled incorrectly and it was not shared with the public,” Panza said. “We were never informed, or the residents would have been more involved in the conceptual design of it.”

DeGeeter discounted that notion, pointing out that the project has been talked about for nearly three years.

“In June 2019, we first publicly stated to the media and to residents that we needed more capacity, more retention to keep water out of the system and out of people’s basements,” DeGeeter said.

“The last two City Council water summits, the sewer district made presentations specifically on those projects (Upper Ridgewood Basin and Veterans Park retention basin). The sewer district in November invited folks from around the lake to be on a Zoom call.

“I don’t think there was any surprise.”

When asked if anything could have been handled differently regarding the residents and the retention basin proposal, DeGeeter said, “The only thing I look back differently would be before the sewer district’s Zoom meeting, the week before Thanksgiving. We would have had a presentation to council and then to the residents.

“But I believe by council putting a pause button on it enhanced the project.”

Not everyone in the Ridgewood Lake Park area is against the retention basin.

Speaking in favor of the project at the recent council meeting was Nicholas Pell, who has experienced four basement floods in the five years he’s called Parma home.

“I’ve been avidly waiting for a project like this to come along that targets the flooding issue in my neighborhood,” said Pell, who lives on Monmouth Road, located not too far from Ridgewood Lake Park.

“I’m very happy that City Council saw that the current and future infrastructure needs of our community outweigh the loss of a particular scenic view and fishing in this location.

“I do understand why the Save Ridgewood Lakes Committee pushed back so hard against this issue, but no one deserves to have their public utilities undermine their home security the way they do on my street.”

NEORSD Watershed Team Leader Donna Friedman previously told cleveland.com that the Upper Ridgewood Basin project, which is expected to be started this year and completed in 2023, will provide “a significant reduction of flooding in this portion of Ward 8,″ where more than 150 homes, garages and other buildings experience flooding during 100-year storm events.

Unimpressed, Panza questioned what kind of effect the retention project will have on flooding.

“This proposal will only potentially fix 40 percent of those houses,” Panza said. “The other 100 houses could potentially flood. They will be in the same boat today as when the project is completed.”

The mayor said the Ridgewood Lake Park retention basin is part of a mosaic approach to solving flooding issues in Parma.

“This is one piece of the puzzle for a number of projects,” DeGeeter said. “It’s not anywhere near design-engineer work, but there may be additional storage capacity over at Stearns Farm.

“But if this project, the Ridgewood Lake Park retention basin, stops 50 to 75 residents who flood from calling me and asking what are we doing about flooding, I’ll take that as a win.”

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