SCOTT CITY RESIDENTS COMPLAIN ABOUT DITCHES

SCOTT CITY -- Some ditches and creeks in Scott City are becoming a growing problem for the City Council.

Monday at its regular meeting, the council fielded questions about the ditches that run alongside the railroad's property line on Main Street and a creek that stretches behind Perkins Street.

Both areas are becoming overgrown with weeds and some Scott City residents are concerned.

"Who is responsible if one of the neighborhood children goes back in there and gets snake-bit?" Terry Hadley, who owns property at the corner of Perkins and Oak, asked council members. "Is it my property and my responsibility to go back there and get it cleaned up? Or is it the city's property?"

Hadley said he was embarrassed by the state of the ditches along Main Street and said if he allowed his yard to get as overgrown as the ditches he would hear about it from the city, "Just like that," he said snapping his fingers.

Public Works Director Harold Uelsmann said the ditches on Main Street are railroad property and the city has to get permission to do any work there.

Mayor Jerry Cummins said considering that Southern Pacific Railroad is planning to raise the rent the city pays for a parking lot on Main Street on railroad property, it might be time to get serious with them about cleaning up those ditches.

The City Council has had complaints in the past about the creek running behind Perkins Street. Residents have called council members because of an abundance of snakes in that area.

Uelsmann said the creek is owned by the Memphis District Corps of Engineers. Cummins instructed City Attorney Francis Siebert to contact the corps of engineers and make sure they are aware the land must be maintained in a way that complies with the city's ordinances on trash and weed control.