MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - Over the summer of 2015, Meridian Township and the rest of Mid-Michigan experienced extremely haphazard weather conditions. The most infamous of these conditions was, of course, copious amounts of rain. To no one's surprise, with copious rain came copious flooding.

Almost no one. One patch of Okemos Road, not far from its intersection with Jolly Road, once became so severely flooded that at least one car was stranded in water higher than its headlights. While residents and traffic diligently found ways around it, many others - including local officials - knew it was an even more serious problem than it looked. That area has an extensive drainage network. It shouldn't have been able to flood.

The drainage network servicing that area is called the Smith Drain System. The Smith Drain covers a large area and serves Alaiedan and Meridian Charter Townships as well as a portion of the City of Lansing.

Both Alaiedon Township and Meridian Township individually petitioned Ingham County Drain Commissioner Pat Lindemann to investigate the drain. An investigation of the drain ensued and a hearing to discuss the findings with the public and decide on a due course of action was set for December 15th.

At the meeting the Drain Commission revealed that it discovered numerous problems with the Smith Drain, some of which had already been ongoing problems for some time.

The root of the problems is that the Smith Drain was originally created in 1891 as an agricultural drain, and was improperly updated over the 20th century as the area was developed.

Pipes were added or replaced with mismatched types and sizes, causing a Frankenstein latticework of bottlenecks. Whole areas of pipe were also neglected, with many pipes compromised with rust. One length of pipe was discovered to have rusted completely through its bottom and only remaining serviceable due to being placed tightly against hard rock.

A large reason for the patchwork is because the commission is actually only able to spend a certain amount of money per project without specifically involving superior agencies. The commission has never taken that step with the Smith Drain.

Another issue was that six additions to the Smith Drain were improperly zoned as their own separate systems, causing unnecessary difficulty in administrating the area and investigating faults.

The Board of Determination voted that the commission take action required to overhaul the drain's failing infrastructure, as well as to consolidate the small drains into the Smith Drain. The overhaul will require the cooperation of both townships and the City of Lansing.

At the meeting, representatives from both townships and the City of Lansing, as well as impacted local businesses Capital Honda and Value Tire, pledged support for the project.