Drainage Pipes - Please Advise

Started by JoshP • 3 replies • 1876 views

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JoshP (South Carolina)
Posts: 1

Posted:

Hello, our HOA board recently discovered that we are responsible for stormwater drainage pipes that run through homeowners' property. These pipes feed a few detention ponds. The city claims they are not responsible for them, since the pipes are not connected to the city sewer. The owners certainly couldn't afford the repair and their homeowner's insurance will not cover the cost, either. The HOA does not own any property, though we see easements on the plats. The neighborhood is 10-15 years old and we are beginning to wonder about the condition of the concrete pipes and what would happen if there was a failure or breakage. We certainly couldn't afford the cost to repair them at the current time, but we may be faced with that challenge in the future. Has anyone else been in a similar situation? How did you handle it? Did you plan ahead of time and create a huge savings for that situation? Our budget is very small, compared to most associations in our area. That's why we are very nervous about this. Any input is appreciated.

JohnB26 (South Carolina)
Posts: 1,569

Posted:

'google' <>

yes, you plan ahead and collect in advance to insure funds on hand for the (eventual) 'big ticket' repair

YES .. YOU MOST PROBABLY OWN THE PONDS

you have now learned the primary purpose of an HOA: to fund the maintainance/repair of the common elements

the retention pond/lake was mandated by the federal clean water act of 1978

the purpose of the pond/lake is to allow for the temporary holding and subsequent 'slow release' of the rain water from the newly paved/roofed over areas

ideally the developement will not impact the previous rate of storm water absoption/run-off from it's 'footprint'

DeeS1 (Michigan)
Posts: 223

Posted:

As you said, you should have easements over the private drainage so you can repair as necessary. You should consider any alt/mod requests over the easement very carefully knowing the items might need to be removed. My understanding is that these systems are expected to last the life of the community if properly maintained. Some small things we were told that help maintain are proper placement of street trees throughout the community to lesson the load, installation and maintenance of silt fences during construction events, and making sure the inlet and outlet pipes to the detention pond are properly cleared of debris and accumulation regularly -- we had a pop can get stuck in one of our pipes and over flowed the pond.

In our area, sometimes the city's will accept the system and ponds as "dedicated" like roads, but our township will not, as this is one of the advantage to them for having HOAs. Our bylaws do allow for us to vote, like the roads, to create a special assessment district with 51% homeowner vote and have the township do any major repairs. The homes would then be billed with their tax statement by the municipality (for an upcharge, of course), and not the association.

MR2 (Virginia)
Posts: 3

Posted:

My advice, which I would shout if it would be polite, is to maintain your drainage system in a timely manner. This means, at least annually, clear out the pipes and check the ponds (gutters, downspouts, ground drains, culverts, etc). Pay for reputable drainage system contractors' advice and, when needed, workmanship. Regrade as needed to keep water directed from where you do not want it. Learn what maintenance work needs to be done to maintain the system. Learn the major expenses that will be incurred periodically. Perhaps, for example, the drainage ponds will need to be dredged. Build this into your monthly fees so that the people benefiting from the system today will be contributing towards that dredging or failed concrete pipe repair 15 years from now. If the drainage system is not maintained, it will cause great expenses. Some of these expenses will be water pooling around buildings causing structural damage. These will be insidious costs. . . termites, rot, mold, allergies, etc. It looks better for resale of properties if the HOA has determined long term costs and builds their funds gradually to address the known eventual need. I hate (again would shout if I could) periodic assessments to cover predictable maintenance issues. These are not fair. The people owning the properties and benefiting from the infrastructure should be paying all along for their maintenance, not just the owner who (perhaps unwisely) just bought the property with insufficient reserves to deal with a predictable expense.

Also, be sure immediately, to build into your HOA rules the right to remove, at owners expense, any plantings whose roots damage the drainage system and that they will be billed for the repair to the system. This will get people's attention to remove their trees, etc while they are still relatively little. All people should be instructed as to where they can and cannot drive on their own properties if that would damage the system.

If your area has weather related issues, such as 25 year floods, be prepared to deal with those. Have you checked your insurance?

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