Niswander Environmental served as project manager and agency coordinator for the Ypsilanti Township’s team of engineers and consultants. Niswander Environmental delineated all wetlands on a 170-acre Township owned property, reviewed the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) crop compliance slides for presence of wetlands, assisted in the development of a site master plan, evaluated potential wetland and floodplain impacts, and met with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to evaluate the wetland limit and proposed project.
Extensive floodplain fill required innovative solutions to compensating cut at this site. Several detention basins were designed to manage stormwater and maximize compensating cut while at the same time exhibiting wetland characteristics as required by the MDEQ. Niswander Environmental also prepared wetland and floodplain mitigation plans including grading and planting plans.
Upon MDEQ request, Niswander Environmental designed and submitted detailed final mitigation plans, including justification reports and hydrology budgets. MDEQ issued the permit in May of 2006. Special provisions and cost estimates were also prepared for the mitigation site for inclusion in the bid document package. Construction of this project began in Spring 2007, and Niswander Environmental provided construction oversight, water control installation, established groundwater monitoring wells, managed seeding and planting protocol, and monitored the mitigation wetland through 2013. In addition, Niswander Environmental performed a supplemental planting of 650 native shrubs in 2011 and managed the wetland for invasive vegetation for 5 years.