WATCH: Opening day flooded out at Mills Creek Golf Course
City manager says heavy rain is a test for the $1 million flood mitigation project; team will inspect there on Thursday
SANDUSKY — It was supposed to be the day local golfers finally shook off the winter rust. Instead, Opening Day at Mills Creek Golf Course looked more like a water hazard than a fairway.
A deluge of heavy rain on Monday and Tuesday forced the city to keep the carts in the shed, but while the surface was “washed out,” the infrastructure beneath the grass was being put to its most significant test since a massive restructuring of the creek beds was completed.
The ‘new’ Mills Creek
Sandusky City Manager John Orzech confirmed Tuesday that while the flooding looks dramatic, it is exactly what the $1 million flood mitigation project was engineered to handle.
“The course is in a floodplain naturally,” Orzech said. “The project was designed to take on those heavy rains, which it seems to be doing in the areas where they expanded the ponds and catch basins to capture the water.”
The project, which was funded almost entirely by a state grant orchestrated by the Erie Conservation District (Soil and Water), focused on the creek’s natural winding path from Perkins Avenue near the old YMCA down to Tiffin Avenue.
Key features of the project include:
Erosion Control: Massive amounts of “riprap” (rock) were placed in the “churn” areas—the bends of the creek where high-velocity water usually eats away at the land.
Expanded Catch Basins: New basins were carved out, specifically behind the storage sheds and along Hole 3, to give the water a place to sit off the primary fairways.
Dissipation Speed: While the course still floods during heavy rain, the goal is “turnaround time.” Orzech noted that in the past, it might take 3 or 4 days for the water to dissipate; the new design is intended to clear the course in about 24 hours.
The ‘Hole 3’ tweak
Orzech noted that while eight of the nine holes remain largely unaffected in their layout, Hole 3—which runs along the cemetery—is currently the most impacted.
“They did a lot of work there in the floodplain area,” Orzech said. “It’s had to be reseeded, so that hole is going to take some tweaking to get it back to form, but the rest of the course is fine.”
What’s Next?
Experts from Soil and Water are scheduled to “walk the creek” tomorrow. They will inspect the entire length of the course to evaluate how well the rock stabilization held up and verify that the water is receding at the accelerated rate promised by the engineers.
For golfers, the visual changes are subtle but permanent: more rock, sturdier banks, and a course that—hopefully—requires fewer rain-out cancellations in the future.
FLOOD WATCH: VIDEO & PHOTO GALLERY
WATCH: Video update from the banks of Mills Creek] City Manager John Orzech discusses the status of the mitigation project as water levels peak.
PHOTO GALLERY: Opening Day Underwater] See 12 new photos of the current conditions at Mills Creek, including the newly installed rock embankments and the catch basin behind the storage shed.
