BACKGROUND
City Engineering is currently offering rain gardens in terraces in conjunction with street reconstructions, where they are appropriate. Starting in fall 2008, City Engineering staff reviewed each of the proposed street reconstruction projects that were proposed for 2009, for the possible inclusion of terrace rain gardens.
Streets need to have terraces that meet the following criteria to be considered eligible:
- Terraces must be at least 10 feet wide;
- Terraces cannot be too steep (in any direction);
- There cannot be issues with high groundwater
- The priority for citing terrace rain gardens is in areas of the city that do not have stormwater treatment ponds
Once the possible streets were narrowed down, Engineering staff walked each of the streets to determine which specific properties had adequate room and suitable terraces for rain gardens. Homeowners affected by a street reconstruction project receive a letter in the mail that outlines the opportunity for rain gardens, along with other information on the street project. A second post card is also mailed out to remind them of any deadlines to decide whether they would like to move forward with having a terrace rain garden. Currently, the City will pay 75% of the cost of installation and planting of a rain garden in the terrace.
PLANTING & MAINTENANCE
Regarding planting, homeowners have one of two choices. They may either pay for 25% of the total cost of hiring a contractor to plant the garden, or they may plant the garden on their own. If a homeowner chooses to use a contractor, their plant selection is limited to one of several city-designed rain garden planting designs, which can be found here. If a homeowner would rather design his/her own rain garden planting plan, the total cost of plants and all labor is his/her own responsibility.
If a contractor is used, all maintenance following the initial planting is the responsibility of the homeowner.
Should a homeowner sell their house or decide that they no longer want a terrace rain garden, the gardens are designed so that they can be filled in by the homeowner and reseeded with turf grass.
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