Overview:
-Great Lakes Water Authority unveils updated design for $138 million Freud Street pump station project that faces pushback from Jefferson Chalmers residents.
-The design is intended to resemble nearby residences, according to GLWA's architect.
-Four residents tell Planet Detroit they left Wednesday's meeting frustrated.
Great Lakes Water Authority representatives pitched a five-story pump station designed to resemble the latest apartments popping up in Detroit — and fit seamlessly into the city’s Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood — to community members Wednesday.
Officials presented the latest architectural designs for a proposed pump station in the residential area at a public hearing at East Lake Baptist Church.
The model comes by way of INTOTO studio, a local architectural firm, working in tandem with the authority to design the exterior of a new facility intended to support an existing pump station near Freud and Conner streets.
A handful of residents in attendance voiced their opposition to the latest designs, as well as the overall plan to place a pump station in Jefferson Chalmers, suggesting the water authority failed to provide alternatives to a $138 million stormwater maintenance project in the residential area.
“There should be other alternatives, and this is the reason why you’re getting all this backlash,” said Jocelyn Harris, a resident of Jefferson Chalmers, and chairperson of the District 4 Community Advisory Council, which serves the far east side of Detroit.
“You cannot talk people into agreeing with something that they don’t agree with. I don’t know how you expect to do that?”
Resident to GLWA: ‘You’re not getting the information out’
The new models of the pump station came with a new colorway of brown and beige, intended to resemble the stone-colored design of nearby residences in Jefferson Chalmers, according to James Singleton, principal architect at INTOTO studio.
As the slideshow presentation commenced, Singleton showcased examples of recent multifamily housing developments in neighborhoods such as West Village and Southwest Detroit, as well as national models of wastewater treatment facilities designed to fit into residential neighborhoods.
“We looked statewide, then we looked nationally to see what styles are going into neighborhoods,” Singleton said.
“We think color is important. So we decided to go and look at some of the materials around the neighborhood and try to match that material. We’ve also looked at ways to add some more windows.”
A Great Lakes Water Authority rendering of the planned Freud Street pump station. Photo by Ethan Bakuli.
Five people were in attendance on Wednesday. Gwen Peoples, a Jefferson Chalmers resident, said the water authority should invest more resources toward spreading the word about the community meetings.
“You’re not getting the information out,” Peoples said.
“You want something to happen. You want to do it the right way. You want people to hear in the community, to get on board … you gotta do it right. Somebody do calls. Somebody do door knockers. Somebody actually knock on the door to say we’re going to have these meetings.”
An initial round of postcards was sent to residents within a half-mile of the pump station site late last year, said Navid Mehram, chief operating officer for the Great Lakes Water Authority’s Wastewater Operating Services.
That mailer came with a complete list of upcoming dates for community hearings and public meetings. Peoples and other attendees said GLWA could have done more, such as record the meeting or present it virtually.
“I’m still not on board,” said Peoples. “I may never be on board, but if you do this right, you’ll get more involvement in the community, and you’ll have people who may, even with all I’m asking, say, ‘You know what? I like the idea.’”
GLWA officials said they presented alternatives at previous public meetings, adding that any alternatives to the current proposal would come at a higher cost or burden for local residents.
“We are bound by the pipes that are underground from 100 years ago,” said Mehram. “We don’t get to pick the locations.”
Among the alternatives considered were “do nothing,” create two pump stations on Jefferson Avenue and at the far east side of Freud Street, or maintain the existing pump station through a series of routine, but intrusive, inspections.
“If I’m living next to this, I would want this pump station compared to, on a quarterly basis, a bunch of contractors showing up, setting up generators, showing up with cranes, dropping pumps in, running pipes underground, closing off roads, because we will have to still be able to run the lines for a short period of time, though it would be a month,” Mehram said.
“If we build two pump stations, that’s two more infrastructures, [and] that’s just bad management of utilities for the public sector.”
The water authority intends to bring the designs to a City Planning Commission meeting in April.
Of the five community members who showed up Wednesday, four told Planet Detroit they left the two-hour meeting frustrated the project could potentially move forward as planned.
MORE GLWA COVERAGE FROM PLANET DETROIT
Jefferson Chalmers residents say they were left out of GLWA’s $138M pump station project
The Great Lakes Water Authority says new pump station will improve stormwater management and prevent flooding, but residents contend the project was pushed through with little public input.
Southwest Detroit flood repairs will take 6 weeks ‘minimum’
In the wake of the Southwest Detroit flood, city officials project a six-week timeline to restore homes. ‘It’s sad,’ says Elvin Nolasco, whose parents are staying in a hotel.
GLWA’s $138 million flood prevention project sparks outrage in Jefferson Chalmers
The project aims to make regional water infrastructure more resilient and help with flood prevention. However, residents are troubled by the city of Detroit and Great Lakes Water Authority’s slow outreach.
