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A growing glacier. That’s how neighbors in the Settlers Bay area of Wasilla were describing the flooding situation Wednesday. Since the start of January, flowing and then freezing water has caused an ice build up more than a foot deep on Settler Bay Drive.
One neighbor has put out more than 200 sand bags outside his home. Neighbors said Wednesay, the biggest help has come from the borough. The Mat-Su Borough Public Works Department brought in graters and ice melting machinery to break up and remove the ice Tuesday.
Neighbors Tim Heingartner and Dameon Kowalke are downhill from a newly built home that they said is the source of the problem.
“I've never seen water like this, [even] in the heavy rain we got this fall,” said Kowalke, ”I've got a low spot and it had 4 to 5 inches of water in it... but we have never had flowing water in January.”
“[I’ve spent] a lot of hours out here every day before and after work and on the weekends,” said Tim Heingartner, “Just trying to watch what the ice and what it’s doing and react to it. So we can keep it away from the home as much as possible.”
Heingartner said even the sandbags lined outside his house did not give him comfort from the growing problem. Both Heingartner and Kowalke dug moats around their property to help water flow past their homes.
The Mat Su Borough declined to go on camera but did explain what they were doing to mitigate the flooding. They said the source of the problem was a pipe where water was bubbling out from. Public works crews cut through more than 15 inches of ice to find the pipe. The crews attached plastic tubing to the pipe and ran the tube across the street where water could drain.
Even with the borough's plan to divert water, neighbors were concerned some damage is too far along.
“I'm afraid it's going to have a frost heave,” said Heingartner, “Where it's going to shift that. It’s got a radiant floor heat and those pipes and everything might start busting up. So yeah I'm worried about shifting of the home.”
The home builder company sent a letter to residents that said complaints about the flooding issue are best directed to the borough that is quote "responsible for keeping the roads passable and ditches clear."