By: Diane Benjamin
Brady Homes did a subdivision off Fox Creek road called Fox Hollow. Toward the rear of the subdivision is a retention basin that is supposed to drain. It doesn’t. Brady failed to maintain it, thus the drain is clogged.
In the Fall of 2014 the City of Bloomington accepted it from Brady, evidently the City forgot to inspect it first.
I remember Mayor Transparency saying developers have screwed the City in the past and he was going to change that. Epic Failure Tari. Counting Snyder not paying development fees, this makes two developers ripping off the City. How many more?
The City is telling the homeowners that it can’t be fixed until it drains. Without a drought, that isn’t going to happen. I guess they haven’t considered pumping the water out.
The water smells and creates the perfect environment for mosquitoes. I hear it’s so bad that backyards adjacent to the basin can’t be used.
If West Nile breaks out, is it the City’s fault? Aren’t we told to empty standing water? Another case of rules for us, but not for them.
The basin is very overgrown, so the standing water is hard to see. Maybe the City will get around to fixing it when downtown is done and all the streets have bike lanes. The Alderman for Fox Hollow is David Sage. Great job working for your constituents David! Yes, I do know you have been contacted about the problem!
The homeowners now have to pay HOA fees to Brady and taxes to the City. What do they get for it? Ignored.
eeewww-stinky business
Good luck trying to sell a home with that type of issue present. By this point in time I would have mowed the growth myself and dropped a letter to the HOA encouraging them to withhold any payments to Brady until an independent engineering firm inspects the basin and the drainage. It’s also a threat to the properties because of the water isn’t draining well and it may seep into some homes. I bet the insurance agencies covering the homes would love to hear these issues.
It’s really just one more example of the City not enforcing ordinances and giving special treatment to developers. The quality of life seems to mean different things to different people.
A reasonable person would presume in any normal circumstance that the elected representative Alderman for this community – and one that is near his own neighborhood – would place this growing concern of citizen constituents on a list of high priorities.
As the author here pointed out, David Sage, is the Alderman for the Ward this development lies in.
For the sake appearances at least, Alderman Sage seemingly has not taken it upon himself to take any responsible or necessary steps to find a resolution to this problem, on that continues to worsen, one that continues to adversely affect residents and one that could potentially turn out to have health and safety impacts in the neighborhood.
However and meanwhile, Alderman Sage finds himself readily poised to avail himself for the Mayor’s hand-picked Budget Tax Force and ready to act on a whim the City Manager’s beck and call.
Neither of these functions Alderman Sage has stood in line for for years to attain is for the best interest of Ward 2 constituents, the community in question or the City at large.
Raise property taxes, the Budget Tax Force Sage Chairs will suggest. Yet in his own back-yard property values are threatened by the ongoing presence of a blight that seemingly goes ignored.
Create and impose new taxes and user fees, reasons Sage’s Tax Force. Yet in the very Ward he was elected to represent lies a spectre that no bike path, no hotel or convention center, or even a brand-new, modernized, $16 million dollar, flamingo arrayed zoo can correct.
Alderman Sage is not the sole guilty party, here. But, maybe the finger-pointing should start with the sole government individual who promised to represent and to make Bloomington – and his own Ward – a better place to enjoy quality of life.
THE LIBERAL PRESSED
One also needs to question the business practices of the State Senator in regard to following codes and EPA regulations.
Sitting OR STAGNANT water is also the BEST source for West Nile Disease. I’m sure there are elderly OR people at risk living in the area, and W.N.D. has already been found in nearby counties. ANYBODY smell lawsuit potential? NOT to mention the little neighbor kid going after his ball, toy, etc, How does that usually turn out?