Cape Girardeau council vows action on storm water

Cape Girardeau City Council members promised Monday to look at changing the city's storm-water management ordinances after hearing angry complaints from residents who say their property is regularly deluged with mud and water from nearby construction.

"We understand that this has come through and rocked your world," said Mayor Jay Knudtson while adding the city can make no promises for a "cure-all" to the issue.

About 20 people living on north side streets including Greenbrier, Ferndale and Nottingham recounted their problems at Monday night's council session. Since construction on a new subdivision began two years ago in their neighborhood, they said, even a light rain means flooding and piles of transferred debris.

"It comes between our houses at such a dramatic rate that it would knock you down," said Denise Merideth of 2104 Nottingham Lane.

Another resident, Mike Westrich of 1816 Greenbrier Drive, showed pictures of his family's backyard playground. The before and after photos show the area transformed into a muddy pit he says is now a breeding ground for mosquitos.

"It's hard to tell your kids they can't play in their own backyard," said Westrich. He said his children's slide and swings have been unusable since spring.

The upset citizens recounted how developers of the new Arbor Heights subdivision sloped lots that were once flat and stripped away grassy areas that had previously served as a buffer to runoff.

When completed, the subdivision will include approximately 80 lots. Homeowners, however, would like to see something done before that time.

"The rain overwhelms my yard. It even comes up to my patio door," said Larry Hendricks of 1812 Greenbrier. "What used to come though as a trickle is now a torrent."

Residents were equally unanimous in reporting that until recently the city has done little to respond to their concerns.

"For two years we've been calling the police, engineers, our city council member and the city manager. We didn't get hardly any response. The city manager was the only one who even called us back," Loyd Moore of Evondale said before the meeting. Moore said an Aug. 30 article in the Southeast Missourian finally made officials take note.

Knudtson said the city will act on the problem. "We hear you loud and clear." He pledged that city staff will update the citizens every other week on progress.

City manager Doug Leslie said he hopes to add two water retention basins below Arbor Heights and improve the capacity of the two basins already in place there.

Ordinance changes could include holding developers accountable for the rainwater compliance of individual lots. The current ordinance only applies to subdivisions as a whole. Once the lots are sold the developers are not held accountable.

The city is also considering a gradient requirement forcing all new construction to have a maximum slope of three feet horizontal for every one foot vertical. Already a requirement in cities like Jackson, this would eliminate some of the steeper contouring occurring around the city.

Officials also pledged to address the widespread complaint that streets such as Nottingham and Ferndale do not have enough drain capacity to handle the rain they receive. "It's a case where a lot of the streets are without any inlets at all," said city engineer Jay Stencel. He said he is glad the complaints will give him the chance to update ineffective ordinances.

Knudtson applauded the efforts of nuisance abatement officers who have required developers and homeowners to put up sod fences to control erosion. However, he conceded, "there seems to be a discord between the priority of enforcement and the priority the developer has."

tgreaney@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245