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Mission Ridge Sewer

 

Olathe Mayor Michael Copeland and Olathe City Manager Michael Wilkes recently conducted television interviews on this issue. You may view the complete and unedited interviews by clicking on either name. 

There are about 10 homes in the 1200 block of E. Sleepy Hollow Drive in the Mission Ridge subdivision that have experienced sanitary sewer backups.  This is a very unfortunate situation that no one in Olathe should have to face.

In 1995 and again in 2005, the City took steps to upgrade the lift station where the problems occurred.  The most recent upgrade in 2005 included installation of new pumps to increase capacity, installation of a new backup generator, construction of 19,000 gallons of emergency storage, and upgrades to the alarm system requiring an investment of over $500,000.  Though it is impossible to make a 100% guarantee that equipment will not fail, it was believed adequate safeguards were in place to prevent future problems, including power redundancy. 

To our regret, and more importantly to the distress of 9 impacted homeowners, the system failed as a result of a lightning strike, power outage, and a subsequent power surge during the heavy storm event on July 30, 2008.  Although the City’s insurance carrier covering this situation ruled there was no liability by the City, this is still unacceptable. 

The City remains very concerned about the situation impacting the homeowners on E. Sleepy Hollow, and continues investigating the failure. Though there is no way to develop a foolproof system, the City has taken additional steps to create more redundant systems and install additional safeguards since the July 30th event. These include:

  • Installing additional monitoring and alarm systems on the backup generator,
  • Adjusting equipment so that pumps will run at maximum speed when the generator is in operation,
  • Installing a temporary standby pump and control system to act as another level of backup that includes and independent power source.

While lift stations involve mechanical equipment that can fail, we continue to explore all options to improve reliability of sanitary sewer service to this area, and the City is in the process of:

  • Working with KCPL to improve the reliability of the power supply to the lift station with a direct power feed,
  • Purchasing a permanent back-up pump system to complement the backup generator with an independent power source,
  • Investigating working with homeowners to install new upgraded backflow valves.

The Olathe City Council continues working on this issue with the City’s legal department.  Since there is an independent insurance carrier involved and possible litigation, the City wishes to avoid making public statements that could negatively impact not only taxpayers, but those residents impacted. The Olathe Municipal Services Department is continuing discussions with experts and conducting research about other reasonable solutions and will be keeping impacted residents informed as the process moves forward.

Additional questions can be directed to David Bries, Utilities maintenance Superintendent at (913) 971-9245 or by email at dbries@olatheks.org.

11/20/2008 Mission Ridge Update