Mayor: stormwater project depends on voters extending sales tax in April

Heavy rains turn backyards of homes into muddy lakes in one longtime Cape Girardeau neighborhood when nearby Arena Creek overflows its banks.

Mayor Harry Rediger told residents along Stewart Drive on Wednesday a tax measure on the April ballot would alleviate some of the stormwater problem.

Rediger and public works director Steve Cook met with several residents whose backyards border the narrow creek near Kingshighway.

The mayor said replacement of a box at Hopper Road and Kingshighway downstream from the neighborhood would improve the drainage.

The $530,000 project is part of $3.1 million worth of stormwater improvements for the Arena Creek watershed that extends down through Arena Park, Rediger said.

But he said work won't happen unless voters approve a measure on the April 3 ballot to extend the three-eighth-cent sales tax to fund parks and stormwater projects.

Rediger said the city government is proposing to spend about $10 million on projects to improve storm drainage over the next 15 years.

"This is one of the projects that we see as critical," he told Stewart Drive residents.

Rediger said the city would issue bonds to proceed with the stormwater project if the tax is extended. "We need yes votes," he said.

But resident David Fox said the drainage creek needs to be cleaned out. It is congested with trees, limbs, bushes, weeds and debris. Several storm drains empty into the creek.

Fox and his neighbors wish the city would clean out the creek.

Otherwise, he worries their yards will continue to flood.

But Rediger said the city can't clean out the creek because the city has no drainage easements there. "We can't do it," he told residents standing only a few yards from the creek.

The creek is the responsibility of property owners, he said.

Rediger said replacing the downstream culvert under Hopper Road with one about twice that size would provide better drainage. "It will help. It won't solve it all."

Fox's wife, Tammy, said the city this week cleaned out part of the creek down by the new police station. Rediger said the city could do so because it owns that section of the creek.

Rediger urged residents to clean out the creek behind their homes or find groups to tackle the job.

The creek, which serves as a drainage ditch, runs within a few feet of Cynthia Adams' carport.

Heavy rains last month left her looking out at a lake of stormwater.

Stormwater from that same rain also covered the large backyard of Teri and Jeff Crain, whose property sits along a bend of the creek.

Jeff Crain said it is a problem every time there is heavy rain. But he added the flooding has become worse over the 17 years he has lived there.

Stewart Drive residents said the creek is full of limbs and other debris including discarded washers and dryers. Residents pointed to a table that clogs up one area of the creek, along with several large trees.

Rediger said the city could take action if there is evidence of illegal dumping. But even then, it would not be the city's responsibility to clean up the creek, he said.

Cook and Rediger said there are a number of drainage ditches around the city that are not the responsibility of city government, but rather are owned by the adjacent property owners.

"I certainly understand all your concerns," Rediger told residents gathered by the creek. "We haven't ignored it."

mbliss@semissourian.com

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