Source: http://www.clarkstonnews.com, April 23, 2015
With continued pollution mitigation problems at 148 N. Main Street, developer Curt Catallo is ready to wash his hands of the affair.
“The constant hurdles and ever changing playing field have made it apparent to us that the city does not want this corner re purposed as we originally proposed,” Catallo told Clarkston City Council.
According to Oakland County Register of Deeds, the property is still owned by Larry Trepek, of Pontiac based GL Investments. Catallo has entered a land contract agreement with Trepek, but has no official ownership until the contract is paid off.
Catallo offered the property to the city to house its DPW garage after it vacates its Church Street property, which he recently purchased if his plans fail.
He suggested the city could build an addition, for which he already gained permission from the Historic District Commission, and rent the building at the same rate as the Church Street garage.
Catallo, who co-owns numerous restaurants including the Clarkston Union and Woodshop downtown, said he spent $250,000 on the property so far. He said the city is not adhering to a 2014 agreement, leaving him grounds to sue.
“At some point it just becomes too much of a headache and hassle,” Catallo said at an April 9 city council meeting, weeks after city attorney Tom Ryan requested a closed session meeting to discuss stormwater issues on the property.
Terri Golla of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, who is overseeing the property for the state, said soil and water in the area is contaminated with petroleum-based chemicals, leaked and dumped for decades. The “plume” of pollution stretches in all directions from 148 N. Main.
On-site stormwater collection is not a favored for polluted properties like 148 N. Main, Golla said.
“We don’t recommend putting the groundwater back into the plume because it could make the plume migrate,” she said. “Disturbing the plume can cause it to spread and be released into lakes.”
Last year, Neil Wallace, Catallo’s attorney, said any soil disturbed during construction would be removed and taken to a specially lined dump.
In a June 2014 conditional re-zoning agreement, special land use and preliminary site plan was approved by city officials after heated debates between Ryan and Wallace.
After disagreements over legal language in contract, an initial plan for a coffee shop and deli was approved.
Ryan has recommended the city enter a hold harmless agreement, created to minimizing liabilities over a risky action, like disturbing the plume causing it a spread further into groundwater or the Mill Pond or Parke Lake.
Local residents familiar with stormwater and pollution issues over 10 years ago were concerned over the hold harmless clause.
In 2003, after the Michigan Department of Transportation opposed connecting Robertson Court to a Main Street stormwater system, the city sought costs for water and sewer work . Bids ranged from $2.9 million to over $4 million and releasing pollution was a major concern.
Although MDEQ advises potential owners to test soil and measure pollution to limit liability, under Michigan law any entity involved in a project that spreads pollutant is liable for damages.
Catallo admits the property has issues, but his mark on the community proves he is different.
“I am not just another developer” Catallo said, referring to his lifelong residency and the numerous properties he owns in Clarkston. “The property does not have a clean bill of health, (but) the patient is getting better.”
Catallo’s reaction follows Ryan’s suggestion to enter a hold harmless agreement with Catallo, so the city is not liable.
Moving polluted soil, can disturb the pollution by forcing it to surface before its discharged untreated into local waters.
Mill Pond and Parke Lake collect stormwater in the area, and would be the destination for pollution released by construction. Ryan requested council direction on how to proceed with stormwater issues on the property during a closed session he requested in March.
Councilman Richard Bisio said closed session violated the Open Meetings Act, and disclosed information discussed in the meeting. Ryan was directed to continue discussing alternatives to Catallo’s proposal to continue collecting stormwater on site.
Residents were concerned with the closed meeting.
After everything, Catallo hinted that walking away may be the best option.
Fixing the property will be costly.
“To do it the right way is expensive,” said Clarkston homeowner Tom Stone, adding the way communities handle stormwater is outdated.
Before storm tiles or storm drains were installed, excess water was controlled naturally by floodplains and wetlands.
Vegetation, like trees and plants, naturally absorbs and filters water, unlike storm sewers that directing it into lakes.
Pollution at 148 N. Main was confirmed in 1991 after the Environmental Protection Agency ordered underground tanks be removed and updated.
MDEQ believes two other service stations on M-15 also leaked chemicals. After contamination was confirmed, the State of Michigan paid to replace numerous water wells in the area.
MDEQ received the last correspondence for 148 N. Main property in 2014 when Trepek requested the case on the property be closed.
His request was denied over contamination remaining inadequately addressed.
MDEQ notified Trepek he was out of compliance in 2013 and 2014.
“We received a response back that the owners did not agree with us,” Golla said.
Requirements to bring the property into compliance include monitoring ground water for at least one year and collecting soil samples to prove contamination is below residential drinking water standards. Other options, such as a deed restriction declare the water unsafe, is also an option.
Programs from the county to the federal level are available to help fund clean-up projects on polluted properties. Independence Township officials secured a brownfield grant from Oakland County to clean up and redevelop a petroleum polluted property at the corner of Main and Dixie.
Contamination issues are best addressed before or during construction and not afterwards when the damage is done.