Outspoken Saddle Ridge residents upset, concerned
Saddle Ridge residents are continuing to make their voices heard regarding the nearby Ivey Farms development by not only e-mailing Town officials, but also by meeting with them — and purchasing an ad in this week’s farragutpress.
Several, already upset about a planned connector road between the two developments, also have been dismayed over at least four separate instances of water runoff from Ivey Farms onto Pecos Road since July 31.
Town engineer Darryl Smith, along with assistant Town engineer Brannon Tupper, assistant to the Town administrator Trevor Hobbs and Town Stormwater coordinator Lori Saal met last Friday, Aug. 14, with several neighborhood residents, including Jeff Goodman, his wife, Teresa Goodman, Tim Sayers and Andy Lupini, at Town Hall.
Saddle Ridge residents are continuing to make their voices heard regarding the nearby Ivey Farms development by not only e-mailing Town officials, but also by meeting with them — and purchasing an ad in this week’s farragutpress.
Several, already upset about a planned connector road between the two developments, also have been dismayed over at least four separate instances of water runoff from Ivey Farms onto Pecos Road since July 31.
Town engineer Darryl Smith, along with assistant Town engineer Brannon Tupper, assistant to the Town administrator Trevor Hobbs and Town Stormwater coordinator Lori Saal met last Friday, Aug. 14, with several neighborhood residents, including Jeff Goodman, his wife, Teresa Goodman, Tim Sayers and Andy Lupini, at Town Hall.
Also present was John Anderson of Site Inc., which is the engineer on the Ivey Farms subdivision project. Goodall Homes is the builder.
Jeff Goodman, who described himself as “a concerned citizen who is also a state-licensed geologist,” had asked Smith for the meeting earlier in the week via e-mail to discuss “flooding issues” along with “safety and environmental concerns associated with the Pecos Road connection.
“My concerns relate to the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) on file with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation,” Goodman said as the meeting began.
“We’ve all been a bit concerned there the last couple of weeks,” Smith said.
“Essentially when there is any development that is going to disturb an acre or greater of land, they have to apply for a permit through TDEC and also a grading permit with TOF,” Saal explained. “Also, the property owner is responsible for doing twice weekly inspection of erosion control efforts.
“The Town is really here … to assist the state. Informally, if we see something wrong, we will ask them to fix it,” he added. “If they don’t comply, then there is a procedure to issue written warning; we have issued notice of violation for July 31 rain event”.
The builder responded that same week by installing erosion control fencing cleaning up the initial sediment.
“The environmental issue is that the runoff from the storm events carried sediment from the construction site and deposited it in the roadway and storm system,” Smith explained in a follow up e-mail.
Additionally, with rain events that occurred after July 31, the builder continued to respond by installing silt fencing to help control loss of sediment from the site.
However, residents remain upset about rain runoff and point to grading within Ivey Farm as the main factor.
“Right now we are in the middle of construction,” Smith said, a point he made to the farragutpress last week. “Until they are (finished) and stabilized, and the roads are paved, rain can’t get to the catch basins.”
“They do have an incentive to hurry,” he added.
“I just want to say, (the July 31 incident) was unfortunate, but not unusual. We do try to make sure all our projects are in compliance and we do issue violations; but when we have storms like this, it can’t be avoided.
“(What happened on) July 31 — that was a mistake and should not have happened. They should have had erosion control measures in place, and I’m sorry that wasn’t caught.”
“I just don’t want to see us get into the habit of cherrypicking which rule we are going to obey, and which one we are not,” Goodman said.
“I am not the type of person that wants people to cherrypick what they comply with,” Saal said. “When I walk onto site, I will walk the entire site. I will not overlook problems, and if I see them, I will issue violations.
“I am not one to just sit around and let people get away with (violations) — I just want you to know that.”
After the meeting, Saal said the builders “are doing everything we have asked. They have been one of the most responsive contractors I have dealt with.”
Pecos Road residents reported Monday morning, Aug.17, that workers were onsite before 7 a.m., and an unnamed worker noted “that they needed to get the work done because of the rain and that he needed to get it all paved,” according to an e-mail from Pecos Road resident Jeff Kendall,
