20100311085758018.pdfI'll C. 1 B,4 'I,
STREET FILE
16 ti 6
CITY OF EDMONDS GARY HAAKENSON
MAYOR
121 5TH AVENUE NORTH - EDMONDS, WA 98020 1 (425) 771-0220 - FAX (425) 771-0221
Website: wwadedmondsma.us
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT
Planning - Building - Engineering
February 23, 2005
John E. Thoreson
16118 72nd Avenue West
Edmonds WA 98026
Re: Meadowdale Drainage Improvements
Dear Mr. Thoreson:
We are in receipt of your letter of February 14, 2005 to Jeannine Graf. Please note that we are in
disagreement regarding many of the assertions contained in your letter.
First, the City's Meadowdale drainage improvements are designed to protect the public right of
way and the City's sewer improvements in the area. They are not now nor have they ever been
designed to protect individual private properties. The dewatering of the Meadowdale landslide
mass has had a positive impact on the overall probability of earth movement in the area. The
particular drainage improvement. that you refer to are on the lower third or quarter of t..e steep
slope and provide additional stability to downslope areas by dewatering the hillside. The
improvements were neither designed nor intended to stabilize the upslope portion of the
property.
Secondly, the City has investigated reports of slides at this specific site since 2001. Repeated
investigations have been performed for the City by its geotechnical experts, Landau Associates.
Those reports have consistently found that the slide at the top of the slope is unrelated to the
City's drainage improvements or their maintenance. The reports provided to the City indicate
that the landslide activity which has occurred was most likely caused by inclement weather as a
part of the natural process of surfical earth movement in that area. In a nutshell, the slope is in
the natural process of retreat. Subsequent slides have occurred along cracks relating to the initial
slide. As you know, there were questionable construction practices at the Bosch site in 2001
which may or may not have contributed to the earth movement.
The geotechnical reports provided by Landau Associates and others do not support the assertion
you make in your letter that the slope is failing from the bottom up. The City has documented
the successive slides both through photographs and through the reports of its consultant. That
information clearly indicates that the slides are occurring from the top down due to inclement
weather and the natural process of slope retreat at that location.
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John E. Thoreson
February 23, 2005
Page 2
Next, it is correct that the City has ceased to maintain the specific drainage improvement
referenced in your letter. Maintenance was suspended in December of 2001, when debris from
tree topping blocked access. The City ceased maintenance activity altogether on March 6, 2002,
because the hillside was unsafe for maintenance workers. There was no safe way to maintain
that portion of the improvement. It is also highly probable that the improvement was damaged
during the course of the slides. Review of the line by a TV monitor indicated that it was
distorted in shape and blocked by debris. Because of the instability of the slope, the City has not
attempted to maintain or repair that catch basin and piping, but rather initiated a process to
replace it with another improvement. On October 25, 2002, R.W. Beck was commissioned to
design a new improvement. On August 26, 2003, the City awarded a construction contract, and
on September 10, 2003, a preconstruction meeting was held with the contractor. On September
16, 2003, immediately prior to the date on which work was to commence under this contract ' a
new slide occurred above the area where the work was to be done, again rendering the site unsafe
for construction workers to work in the area. Accordingly, that contract was terminated.
The City is currently in the process of redesigning the improvement. The improvement,
however, will be located at the bottom of the slope and is intended to catch the seepage from the
hillside at a location which continues to serve its purpose -- protection of the City's sanitary
sewers and public right of way. The improvement will be located where it can be safely
maintained given the ongoing instability of the hillside behind it.
You assert that the developer of Lorian Woods - presumably Dr. Robert Anderson, has indicated
to the City that catch basins and related drain pipes have been removed and not replaced. I have
no record of any such communication.
Finally, the City will continue to maintain its improvements, in this case through replacement.
There are no plans to extend the City's storm drainage system in this area.
Sincerely,,,,
/64,42AN�E�V �BO"AN
U- Development Services Director
cc: Phil Holroyd
John Johnston
Jim Bosch
(WSS593941.DOC;1/00006.900000/)